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THE  JEWISH   SCRIPTURES 


THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 


THE  BOOKS   OF  THE   OLD    TESTAMENT 

IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THEIR  ORIGIN 

AND   HISTORY 


AMOS  KIDDEK  FISKE 

AUTHOR  OF  "MIDNIGHT  TALKS  AT  THE  CLUB' 
AND  "BEYOND  THE  BOUBN " 


NEW   YORK 
CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

1896 


Copyright,  1896,  by 
CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 


TROW  DIRECTORY 

PRINTING  AND  BOOKBINDING  COMPANY 

NEW    YORK 


TO 

FRANCIS  JAMES   CHILD 

PROFESSOR   OF    ENGLISH    IN    HARVARD    UNIVERSITY 
THIS    VOLUME    IS   AFFECTIONATELY    INSCRIBED 


PREFACE 

The  purpose  of  this  volume  is  to  present  the 
historj'  and  literature  of  the  ancient  Hebrews,  as 
contained  in  the  Old  Testament,  in  a  clear,  concise, 
and  candid  way,  accepting  the  benefit  of  the  light 
revealed  by  modern  research  and  learning,  and 
applying  the  same  calm  judgment  to  which  we  are 
accustomed  in  dealing  with  the  productions  of 
other  ancient  peoples.  The  writer  lays  no  claim 
to  special  erudition  or  to  original  research.  With 
a  keen  interest  in  the  subject  and  a  studious 
searching  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures  themselves  in 
our  English  version,  he  has  endeavored  to  absorb 
for  his  own  enlightenment  the  results  of  the 
studies  of  the  great  scholars  of  Europe  upon  the 
subject  during  the  last  thirty  years,  and  has  tried 
to  condense  within  the  compass  of  one  moderate 
volume  the  fruits  of  that  endeavor. 

With  so  large  a  subject  and  with  such  a  vast 
and  varied  mass  of  material,  in  order  to  attain 
this  result  it  has  been  necessary  to  sacrifice  detail, 


viii  PREFACE 

to  forego  discussion,  to  refrain  from  citations  and 
references,  and  to  be  content  to  accept  conclusions 
as  established  and  to  compress  their  statement  as 
much  as  practicable,  without  loss  of  that  clearness 
and  color  that  are  essential  to  interest.  It  is  a 
subject  upon  which  full  knowledge  is  unattainable, 
and  in  accepting  such  conclusions  as  seemed  to 
be  well  supported  the  writer  has  not  felt  bound 
to  disregard  innate  probability  or  the  analogies  of 
human  history  and  experience. 

The  plan  of  the  work  has  been  to  extricate  the 
story  of  the  life  of  the  people  of  Israel  from  the 
tangled  web  into  which  it  was  wrought  by  the 
writers  of  half  a  thousand  years,  and,  with  such 
aid  as  may  be  got  from  other  sources,  to  make  a 
plain  delineation  of  it  as  a  background  upon  which 
to  exhibit  the  designs  of  those  writers  ;  and  then 
to  place  the  several  books  of  the  great  composite 
volume  in  their  proper  setting,  so  as  to  reveal  their 
origin,  character,  and  ])urpose  as  clearly  as  this 
can  now  be  done. 

The  author  has  not  concerned  himself  with  theo- 
logical views  of  the  subject.  He  considers  all 
truth  sacred  and  nothing  worthy  of  credence  that 
will  not  bear  scrutiny,  and  his  hope  has  been  to 
enable  the  "  ordinary  reader  "  to  share  the  privi- 


PREFACE  ix 

lege  of  the  scholar  and  the  divine,  in  studying 
with  greater  interest  and  higher  appreciation  the 
remarkable  productions  of  the  ancient  Hebrew 
genius.  He  cannot  but  think  that  this  will  con- 
tribute in  the  long  run  to  a  better  understanding 
of  their  lessons  and  a  sounder  application  of  the 
teaching  to  be  derived  from  them. 

A.  K.  F. 

New  York,  February,  1896. 


CONTENTS 


BACKGROUND   OF   THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

PAGE 

I.   The  Birth  of  Hebrew  Literature,      .        .  3 

II.   The  Infancy  of  Israel, 9 

III.  Legendary  Ancestors, 14 

IV.  Servitude  in  Egypt, 17 

V.   The  Great  Deliverance,        ....  20 

VI.   Early  Conceptions  of  Deity,         ...  25 

VII.   The  God  of  Israel, 30 

VIII.   Invading  the  Promised  Land,       ...  37 

IX.   The  Conquest  of  Canaan 44 

X.   The  Degeneration  of  Jehovism,  ...  51 

XI.  The  Childhood  of  the  Nation,     .        .        .55 

XII.   Setting  up  a  Kingdom, 64 

XIII.  The  First  King, 68 

XIV.  David  as  an  Outlaw, 74 


CONTEXTS 


XV.    A  Dynasty  Established,     . 
XVI.    The  Reign  of  David,  . 
XVII.   The  Glory  of  Solomon,     . 
XVIII.   Insurrection  and  Secession, 
XIX.   The  Two  Kingdoms,    . 
XX.   First  Written  Literature, 
XXI.    The  First  Sacred  History, 
XXII.   The  Elohist  Version, 

XXIII.  The  Ancient  Prophets, 

XXIV.  The  Earliest  "Prophecies," 
XXV.   The  Great  Isaiah, 

XXVI.   Religious  and  Literary  Activ 
XXVII.    A  Crisis  for  Judah,    . 
XXVIII.    A  Relapse,    .... 
XXIX.   Jeremiah  and  a  Reformation,    • 
XXX.    The  Shadow  of  Doom, 
XXXI.   The  Carrying  Away  to  Babylon, 
XXXII.   The  Captivity  and  Deliverance, 

XXXIII.  The  Return  and  Restoration, 

XXXIV.  Making  an  Ecclesiastical  Capita i 


CONTEXTS 


XXXV,  Last  of  the  Prophets, 

XXXVI.  Literary  Depression, 

XXXVII.  The  Alexandrian  Version, 

XXXVIIL  A  New  Agony  and  its  Result, 


PAGE 

.  20P. 

.  207 

.  210 

.  215 


BOOKS  OF  THE   OLD   TESTAMENT 

I.   The  Collection  as  a  Whole,    . 

II.    Genesis, 

IIL    The  Books  Containing  the  LA^y, 
IV.   Episodes  and  Fragments.    Joshua, 
V.  Judges,  Ruth, 
VI.    The  Book  of  Samuel, 
VII.    The  Book  of  Kings,     . 
VIII.   The  Book  of  Chronicles,  . 
IX.   Ezra,  Nehemiah, 
X.   The  Earlier  Prophets, 
XI.    The  Book  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah, 
XII.    MiCAH,  Nahum,  Zephaniah, 
XIII.    The  Book  of  the  Prophet  Jeremiah, 


.  225 

.  229 

.  239 

.  251 

.  261 

.  268 

.  273 

.  280 

.  287 

.  292 

.  3U4 

.  312 

.  317 


CONTENTS 


XIV.   Habakkuk,   Anonymous  Chapters  ;  Lamen- 
tations,      326 

XV.   The  Book  of  the  Prophet  Ezekiel,    .        .  330 

XVI.    Haggai,  Zechariah,  Malachi,         .         .        .  337 

XVII.   Esther, 342 

XVIII.   The  Book  of  Job, 346 

XIX.   The  Psalms, 353 

XX.   The  Proverbs, 361 

XXI.   The  Song  of  Songs, 366 

XXII.   Jonah, 375 

XXIII.  The  Book  of  Daniel 378 

XXIV.  Ecclesiastes, 386 


BACKGROUND  OF  THE  JEWISH 
SCRlPTUilES 


I 

THE  BIETH   OF   HEBEEW  LITEEATUEE 

When,  some  nine  Imndred  years  before  the 
Christian  Era  and  five  centuries  after  the  time 
of  Moses,  the  Hebrew  writers  first  attempted  to 
make  a  record  of  the  origin  and  early  experience 
of  their  race,  the  "peculiar  people"  were  already 
established  in  the  land  of  Palestine,  and  formed 
the  two  independent  kingdoms  of  Israel  (or 
Ephraim)  and  Judah.  The  land  had  long  been  di- 
vided into  several  districts  known  by  tribal  names, 
the  most  prominent  of  which  were  Ephraim  and 
Judah,  from  which  the  common  designations  of 
the  two  kingdoms  were  taken.  Between  these 
two  powerful  tribes  was  the  small  but  aggressive 
community  known  as  Benjamin.  To  the  north 
were  several  sections,  with  no  clearly  defined 
boundaries,  but  with  separate  names,  and  these 
were  loosely  attached  to  the  Northern  Kingdom. 
There  were  traditions  of  a  separate  tribe,  named 
Simeon,  to  the  south  of  Judah,  but  it  had  disap- 
peared, being  absorbed  in  the  country  surround- 
ing  it.     There   were   possessions   along   the  east 


4  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

side  of  tlie  Jordan  belonging  to  tlie  two  king- 
doms. According  to  tradition,  this  Avas  tlie  first 
land  permanently  occupied  by  the  Israelites,  and 
had  been  left  in  possession  of  the  two  tribes  of 
Reuben  and  Gad  and  part  of  the  tribe  of  Manas- 
seh,  w^hen  the  country  of  the  Canaanites  y/as  in- 
vaded and  wrested  from  them. 

The  tribal  differences  between  Ephraim  and 
Judali  were  strongly  marked,  and  were  doubtless 
due  to  separate  lines  of  descent  extending  far 
back  into  immemorial  time.  Manasseh  was  closely 
related  to  Ephraim,  and  therefore  clearly  dis- 
tinguished from  Judah.  The  other  designations 
were  mostly  territorial,  rather  than  ethnical,  and 
there  were  no  distinct  tribal  peculiarities  more 
than  were  to  be  accounted  for  by  common  sur- 
roundings and  modes  of  life  for  a  few  generations. 
There  were  two  so-called  tribes,  which  were  really 
only  classes.  Both  the  name  and  the  character- 
istics of  Benjamin  indicated  that  the  country 
about  Gibeah  had  been  occupied  by  a  band  of 
warriors  and  their  descendants,  having  no  distinct 
family  origin,  while  the  Levites  were  a  class  of 
wandering  priests,  or  ministers  at  oracles  and  al- 
tars, who  went  from  place  to  place  and  depended 
upon  others  for  subsistence. 

There  had  long  been  a  number  of  "'sacred 
places"   within  the   limits  of  the  tv/o   kingdoms, 


THE  BIRTH  OF  HEBREW  LITERATURE  5 

marked  by  altars  or  stone  pillars,  or  by  mounds  of 
loose  stones,  about  which  traditions  had  gathered 
for  ages.  The  chief  of  these  in  the  Northern 
Kingdom  were  Bethel  and  Shechem,  and,  as  a  sort 
of  religious  appurtenance  of  the  latter,  Shiloh. 
There  was  also  an  ancient  rallying-place  at  Miz- 
pah  (the  watch-tower) — near  the  border.  In  the 
Southern  Kingdom  the  oldest  traditions  Avere  as- 
sociated with  Hebron,  where  David  first  set  up  his 
throne,  and. with  Beer-sheba,  at  the  southern  lim- 
it of  the  land.  There  was  a  Gilgal,  or  ancient 
mound,  not  far  from  the  Jordan,  connected  with 
memories  of  the  first  great  camping-place  at  the 
time  of  the  invasion  and  conquest.  The  names  of 
tribes  and  of  places  were  not  distinguishable  from 
those  of  persons  and  families,  and  many  of  them 
had  significations  suggesting  deeds  and  events,  or 
characteristics,  which  had  doubtless  been  associ- 
ated with  their  origin  in  a  manner  long  since  for- 
gotten. 

On  the  west  of  the  two  kingdoms,  and  between 
them  and  the  Mediterranean  coast,  were  the  Phoe- 
nicians and  Philistines.  The  former  were  of  Se- 
mitic origin  like  the  Israelites,  but  were  industri- 
ally and  commercially  more  advanced,  and  with 
them  friendly  relations  had  generally  been  main- 
tained. The  Philistines,  however,  were  wholly 
alien  to  the  Semitic  blood,  and  were  probably  of 


6  THE  JEWISH  SCRTPTURES 

Pelasgian  origin,  like  the  Greeks.  They  were  al- 
ways hostile  to  Israel.  Syria,  on  the  northeast, 
was  a  kindred  nation,  and  there  were  traditions  of 
ancient  amity  with  that  conntr3\  Moab  and  Edom, 
to  the  south  and  southeast,  were  also  related  to 
the  Hebrew  tribes,  but  there  was  an  ever-recurring 
feeling  of  enmity  toward  them,  which  told  of  old 
feuds  and  hostile  encounters  when  the  relationship 
was  closer  and  nearer  to  the  common  origin. 

The  material  of  the  writers  of  the  primitive  an- 
nals of  Israel,  who  wrought  in  the  days  of  Jehu  at 
Samaria  and  of  Joasli  at  Jerusalem,  had  come  down 
to  them  through  oral  tradition,  and  had  accumulated 
in  the  form  of  tales  and  legends,  and  such  records 
as  were  embodied  in  names  and  invisible  memori- 
als. The  most  recent  of  these,  and  those  most  clear- 
ly related  to  facts,  pertained  to  the  long  struggle  for 
the  possession  of  the  land,  the  invasion  from  across 
the  Jordan,  the  contests  with  the  natives  and  with 
predatory  bands  on  the  borders,  and  the  gradual 
coalition  of  the  tribes,  for  purposes  of  defence,  into 
a  single  kingdom,  and  then  the  division  of  that 
kingdom  on  the  distinct  line  of  cleavage  between 
Ephraim  and  Judah,  which  ran  far  back  toward 
their  origin.  Beyond  that  tumultuous  period  was 
a  dimmer  memory  of  the  sojourn  on  the  east  of 
the  Jordan  and  the  conflicts  that  preceded  it,  and 
then  the  vague  mists  of  far-off  tradition.    Through 


THE  BIRTH  OF  HKBRFAV  LITERATURE  7 

these  had  come  stories  of  the  primitiA^e  days  when 
the  forefathers  of  Israel  and  Judah  had  Avaadered 
in  tribes  and  clans,  or  sojourned  in  nomadic  fami- 
lies about  the  confines  of  the  old  emjpires  of  the 
east  and  south.  They  told  of  famine  that  drove 
these  ancestral  groups  OA^er  the  boundaries  of 
Egypt,  of  a  period  of  bondage  and  oppression 
there,  and  of  a  great  deliverance  that  brought  the 
people  back  through  perilous  adventures  and  ter- 
rible hardships  in  the  Avilderness  of  Pharan.  All 
this  Avas  shadoAvy  and  had  come  doAvn  in  tales 
transmitted  from  father  to  son,  taking  neAv  form 
and  color  and  groAving  in  impressiveness  from 
generation  to  generation. 

At  the  time  Avhen  the  tribes  of  Israel  first  es- 
tablished themselves  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  some 
thirteen  or  fourteen  centuries  before  the  Christian 
era,  they  had  no  Avritten  language.  There  is  no 
trace  of  inscription  or  Avritten  record  among  them 
for  at  least  three  hundred  years  after  the  occupa- 
tion of  that  country.  The  oldest  fragments  of  the 
documents  used  by  the  first  AVTiters  Avhose  produc- 
tions have  surviA^ed,  embedded  like  primitive  or 
metamorphic  rocks  in  strata  of  later  origin,  date 
not  less  than  five  hundred  years  after  the  escape 
from  Egypt,  and  yet  another  century  or  more 
passed  before  the  tAVO  compilations  Avere  made  in 
Avhich  these  fragments  appear,  and  Avhich  Avere  at 


8  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

a  still  later  time  imperfectly  fused  into  one.  Even 
this  one  was  subsequently  modified  and  overlaid 
with  new  material. 

In  trying  to  discern  through  these  writings, 
with  the  aid  of  such  light  as  may  be  derived  from 
other  sources,  an  outline  of  the  early  history  of 
the  people  the  product  of  whose  life  for  a  thousand 
years  is  embalmed  in  the  Old  Testament,  we  must 
place  ourselves  at  the  point  of  view  of  the  writers, 
as  nearly  as  we  can  ;  consider  the  quality  of  the 
material  they  had  to  use,  and  pay  a  proper  regard 
to  the  mental  characteristics  of  their  race,  and  to 
the  motives  and  purposes  by  which  they  were  ani- 
mated. We  have  also  to  make  allowance  for  the 
language  and  modes  of  expression  peculiar  to  a 
race  radically  different  from  that  to  which  we  owe 
our  own  descent. 


II 

THE  INFANCY  OF  ISEAEL 

Gazing  througli  such  vistas  as  are  open  to  us 
into  the  mists  of  far-off  antiquity,  at  "  the  dawn 
of  history,"  we  dimly  discern  the  Semitic  race 
emerging  from  prehistoric  darkness,  amid  the 
shifting  gleams  and  shadows  of  the  ancient  world 
of  Egypt  and  Babylonia,  the  epitaphs  of  whose 
buried  civilization  have  been  made  imperfectly 
legible.  Deciphered  hieroglyphs  of  pyramids  and 
tombs  tell  of  long  dynasties  and  great  exploits  in 
the  region  of  the  Nile  ages  before  Israel  was  born, 
and  exhumed  and  broken  gravestones  of  Babylon 
and  Nineveh,  with  their  wedge-shaped  inscriptions, 
reveal  glimpses  of  the  grandeur  of  dead  empires 
on  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates.  Here  w^ere  heroes 
and  warriors,  kings  and  priests,  palaces  and  tem- 
ples, walls  and  towers,  science  and  learning,  indus- 
trial, political,  and  religious  institutions,  long  be- 
fore the  nomadic  tribes  of  Arabia  and  the  plains 
of  the  Jordan  wander  into  the  light.  There  may 
have  been  a  still  older  antiquity  in  China  and  In- 
dia, but  that  was  far  beyond  their  horizon. 


10  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

The  fertile  valley  of  the  Nile  aud  the  varied 
region  between  the  rivers — Mesopotamia — were 
naturally  fitted  to  stimulate  an  early  development 
of  human  activities.  The  uplands  of  the  two 
great  streams  of  Western  Asia  became  the  em- 
pire of  Assyria  ;  the  richer  lowlands  and  the  plains 
about  the  confluence  of  the  rivers  were  the  seat 
of  the  earlier  and  later  grandeur  of  Babylonia. 
Sometimes  one  of  these  kindred  nations  bore  sway 
over  the  other,  sometimes  they  were  independent 
rivals,  and  again  they  were  virtually  blended  into 
one.  More  than  once  they  were  brought  into  sub- 
jection to  an  alien  power.  The  Chaldeans,  migra- 
ting originally  from  the  region  of  the  Persian  Gulf, 
held  sway  at  more  than  one  period  about  the 
great  rivers.  They  had  traditions  of  long  ante- 
diluvian dynasties  in  Babylon,  and  far  up  on  the 
eastern  border  of  Assyria  were  the  remains  of  an 
ancient  capital  known  as  Ur-Chasdim,  or  Ur  of 
the  Chaldees.  The  antique  science  and  learning, 
and  much  of  the  political  power,  of  the  Mesopo- 
tamian  empire  were  attributed  to  the  Chaldeans. 

The  gloomy  grandeur  of  Egypt  was  at  its  height, 
and  the  barbaric  splendor  of  Babylon  was  already 
old,  Avlien  we  get  our  first  view  of  the  Semitic 
tribes  wandering  about  their  borders,  and  roving 
with  flocks  and  herds  over  the  intervening  stretches 
of  desert  and  oasis.     There  is  reason  to  believe 


THE  INFANCY  OF  ISRAEL  U 

that  Arabia  and  the  contisruous  lands  were  then 
much  less  arid  than  the}^  have  been  in  modern 
times,  and  that  the  supply  of  water  was  subject  to 
extremes  of  scarcity  and  abundance.  The  move- 
ments of  the  nomadic  tribes  Avere  determined 
chiefly  by  the  vicissitudes  of  dearth  and  plenty  in 
pasturage,  and  these  naturally  brought  them  into 
frequent  contact  with  each  other  and  with  the  set- 
tled communities  along  the  rivers  and  near  the  sea- 
coasts.  In  that  pastoral  life  the  ancient  Hebrew 
clans,  under  their  patriarchal  chiefs,  appear  to 
have  formed  conceptions  and  developed  sentiments 
that  leavened  their  race  for  all  time,  and  an  ir- 
resistible tendency  to  revert  to  the  ideals  of  those 
days  explains  much  in  their  history.  They  con- 
ceived a  keen  and  lasting  aversion  for  the  cruel 
and  vicious  practices  that  prevailed  in  the  civilized 
societies  into  which  they  obtained  occasional 
glimpses,  and  the  evidences  of  material  pride  and 
power  filled  them  with  a  horror  from  which  they 
never  fully  recovered. 

Many  of  the  traditions  gathered  in  those  early 
days  were  never  lost.  During  sojourns  upon  the 
borders  of  the  plains  overlooked  by  the  towers  and 
battlements  of  Babylon  the  huge  temple  of  Bel 
at  Borsippa  produced  an  impression  that  could 
not  be  forgotten.  In  wanderings  far  up  the  east- 
ern bank  of  the  Tigris  fables  of  Nimrod  and  the 


12  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

ancient  rulers  of  Nineveh  were  gathered  up,  and 
memories  were  cherished  of  the  land  of  Ur  of  the 
Chaldees.  More  vivid  were  recollections  of  the 
western  borders  of  Assyria,  where  a  kindred  peo- 
ple dwelt  in  the  region  of  Paddan-aram,  and  there 
seems  to  have  been  a  tradition  of  some  ancient 
partition  Avhich  established  the  boundary  between 
Syria  and  the  land  of  Israel  in  after  times.  There 
is  reason  to  suppose  also  that  the  wandering  clans 
came  into  unfriendly  contact  Avith  the  tribes  of 
Canaan,  were  touched  by  the  influences  of  Phoe- 
nicia, and  felt  the  hostile  spirit  of  the  Philistines. 

But  their  more  lasting  sojourns  were  in  the 
south.  In  the  Dead  Sea  region  the  weird  scenes, 
where  the  sinking  waters  of  that  strange  inland 
lake  had  left  grotesque  shapes  of  salt  and  as- 
phalt, where  beds  of  bitumen  had  at  some  im- 
memorial time  been  aflame,  and  where  slime-pits 
suggested  the  engulfing  of  armies,  furnished  a 
background  for  legends  of  Vv'arring  kings  and  the 
destruction  of  cities  in  a  time  already  old.  In 
seasons  of  drought  there  w^as  a  Imgering  about  the 
wells  of  Beer-sheba  or  a  venturing  into  the  fertile 
parts  by  "  the  river  of  Egypt,"  while  actual  famine 
may  have  driven  a  chief  now  and  then  into  the 
very  heart  of  the  realm  of  the  Pharaohs. 

Traditions  of  these  nomadic  days  were  treas- 
ured in  the  memory  and  transmitted  from  gener- 


THE  INFANCY  OP  ISRAEL  13 

ation  to  generation  until  they  were  finally  woven 
with  later  material  and  colored  with  later  concep- 
tions, to  form  the  wonderful  texture  of  a  record 
which  has  become  sanctified  in  the  eyes  of  the  best 
part  of  the  human  race.  It  may  have  been  during 
this  long  period  of  its  wandering  infancy  that  the 
Hebrew  people  stored  in  their  tenacious  memory 
the  Chaldean  legends  of  the  origin  of  the  world, 
the  creation  of  man,  the  Garden  of  the  Tigris  and 
Euphrates,  which  was  the  cradle  of  mankind,  the 
destruction  of  all  living  things  by  a  flood  of  waters, 
and  of  the  surviving  family  that  repeopled  the 
earth.  Their  reckoning  of  time,  and  even  the  con- 
secration of  one  day  in  seven  to  rest,  which  long 
after  became  a  matter  of  such  scrupulous  obser- 
vance, they  derived  from  the  ancient  empire  which 
they  had  regarded  with  so  much  awe  and  so  much 
aversion,  and  out  of  the  tale  of  Ur-Chasdim  they 
created  their  own  ancestor. 


in 

LEGENDAEY  ANCESTOES 

Back  of  the  august  figure  of  Abraham  there  was 
a  Chaldean  legend  of  King  Orham,  under  whose 
benignant  sway  animals  were  substituted  for  human 
beings  in  expiatory  and  placatory  sacrifices  to  the 
dreaded  deities.  Some  features  of  that  legend  ap- 
pear in  the  Jewish  traditions,  but  other  branches 
of  the  Semitic  family,  as  well  as  the  Hebrews, 
claimed  Abraham  as  their  father.  The  oldest 
Jewish  traditions  regarding  the  origin  of  the  He- 
brew people  were  associated  with  the  northern 
sojourn  in  Paddan-aram  and  a  migration  thither 
from  the  East.  When  these  came  to  be  embodied 
in  the  form  of  personal  narratives,  Abraham  was 
represented  as  having  traversed  the  land  that  was 
to  become  the  heritage  of  his  descendants,  and  as 
having  consecrated,  by  building  altars,  the  places 
still  held  sacred.  The  relationship  of  the  various 
branches  of  the  Semitic  family  was  portrayed  in  a 
half -mythical  way.  Lot  was  an  ancient  name  of 
the  people  and  the  region  about  the  lower  Jordan 
and  the  Dead  Sea,  and  Lot  Avas  represented  as 


LEGENDARY  ANCESTORS  15 

the  SOU  of  Abraham's  brother  Harau,  which  was 
really  the  name  of  a  place  in  what  became  the 
land  of  Syria.  The  ancestor  of  Israel  divided 
the  comitry  with  his  nephew^  who  became  the 
progenitor  of  Moab  and  Ammon.  Abraham  was 
allowed  to  be  the  ancestor  of  Arabia,  or  of  the 
people  known  as  Ishmaelites  and  Hagrites,  but 
only  through  the  offspring  of  an  Egyptian  bond- 
woman, while  the  Midianites  came  from  a  second 
marriage  in  his  extreme  old  age.  A  closer  re- 
lationship Avas  permitted  to  Edom.  The  ethnic 
story  even  gave  to  Edom  an  original  precedence, 
wdiich  was  superseded  by  the  superior  craft  of 
Israel.  Apart  from  this  incident  of  one  branch  of 
the  family  supplanting  another,  the  higher  claim 
of  Israel  to  the  fatherhood  of  Abraham  came  from 
being  the  offspring  of  the  wife  of  his  youth,  who 
■was  barren  until  advanced  in  years. 

All  this  is  a  legendary  or  mythical  account  of 
the  origin  of  tribes  and  peoj)le  ;  but  the  legend  of 
Abraham  as  the  forefather  of  the  Hebrew  people 
seems  to  connect  with  an  actual  chieftain,  of  the 
time  of  ancient  w^ars  between  "  confederated " 
kings  of  the  plains  and  those  of  the  hill  country. 
This  head  of  what  was  apparently  a  powerful  tribe 
took  a  victorious  part  in  one  of  these  wars  and  re- 
ceived the  homage  of  the  ancient  Jebusite  king  of 
Salem,  who  is  also  desi^^nated  as  "  Priest  of  God 


16  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

Most  Higli."  In  this  picture  we  get  a  passing, 
but  vivid  glimpse  of  an  antiquity  far  back  of  the 
record  in  which  it  is  preserved. 

The  oldest  of  the  actual  tribal  traditions  at- 
tached to  the  name  Isaac,  or  Isaak-el,  the  designa- 
tion of  an  ancient  clan,  implying  divine  favor,  or 
the  "  smile  of  God,"  but  these  were  confined  to 
the  district  of  Beer-sheba  and  furnished  its  chief 
claim  to  sanctit}^  These  Isaac  traditions  became 
mixed  with  the  Abraham  legend,  as  appears  from 
the  two  versions  of  the  story  of  Abimelech,  king 
of  Gerar,  and  of  the  naming  of  the  wells  of  Beer- 
sheba.  But  as  tradition  became  clearer  the  an- 
cestors of  the  people  of  Palestine  appeared  un- 
der the  names  of  Jacob  and  Joseph,  shortened 
from  tribal  designations  of  Jacob-el  and  Joseph-el. 
These  were  the  source  of  the  broad  difference  that 
divided  the  nation  irreconcilably  into  two,  but  the 
former  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  older  branch  of 
Israel,  and  the  latter  as  its  ambitious  offspring. 
The  name  Joseph,  an  "  addition,"  seems  to  imply 
an  alliance  of  tribes  Avhich  did  not  have  a  known 
common  origin.  Out  of  the  fables  to  which  these 
names  and  traditions  gave  rise  no  historic  facts 
can  be  elicited  but  only  historic  conjectures. 


rv 

SEEYITUDE  IN  EGYPT 

The  first  faint  light  of  actual  history  falls  upon 
the  children  of  Israel  as  they  flee  frona  a  galling 
servitude  within  the  borders  of  Egypt.  It  is  a 
plausible  conjectiu'e  that  the  Josephites  were  the 
first  to  migrate  to  the  fertile  regions  toward  the 
Nile  valley  —  probably  driven  thither  hj  famine, 
but  possibly  betrayed  into  captivity,  as  the  later 
legend  implies — and  that  the  union  Avith  the  other 
branch  of  the  Hebrew  family  came  afterward.  It 
may  also  be  true,  as  the  legend  implies,  that  they 
won  high  favor  in  Egypt  and  were  intrusted  with 
some  share  of  power  by  the  Pharaohs.  They  were 
not  the  first  Semitic  immigrants  in  that  region, 
and  it  was  from  a  section  of  the  Hittites,  settled 
there  long  before,  that  the  famous  Hyksos,  or 
*'  Shepherd  Kings,"  sprang.  At  aU  events  it  seems 
to  have  been  after  the  Josephites  had  risen  to 
favor  and  power  in  Egypt  that  the  clan  of  Jacob 
sought  relief  in  that  country  from  an  unusually 
severe  and  prolonged  famine. 

They  were  xDermitted  to  establish  themselves  in 


18  THE  JEWISH  SCRIP TUIiES 

the  land  of  Goshen,  in  the  pastoral  pursuits  to  which 
thej  were  accustomed,  and  which  were  the  scorn 
of  the  civilized  Egyptians.  For  some  time  they 
were  allowed  to  dwell  there  in  peace  and  compara- 
tive plenty,  but  after  the  conquests  and  trium^Dhs  of 
Thothmes  and  Ehameses  II.,  the  power  and  pride 
of  the  old  dynasties  w^ere  restored.  Ehameses  set 
about  the  construction  of  great  storehouses  and 
fortified  places  near  the  border  of  his  empire,  in 
the  direction  of  the  Isthmus,  and  for  these  he  had 
occasion  for  a  vast  quantity  of  bricks,  or  blocks  of 
clay  mingled  with  vegetable  fibre  and  hardened  in 
the  sun,  and  for  the  forced  labor  by  which  the 
government  was  Avont  to  execute  its  public  works. 
He  "  knew  not  Joseph  "  and  had  no  sympathy  for 
Israel,  and  accordingly  proceeded  to  utilize  tlie 
alien  population  within  his  borders  upon  the  great 
structures  which  he  had  undertaken.  Out  of  this 
policy  came  the  grinding  "  oppression  "  which  the 
proud  Israelites  remembered  so  long  and  so  vivid- 
ly, and  resented  with  such  an  undying  hatred  of 
Egypt.  So  long  as  the  reign  of  the  great  Eham- 
eses lasted  there  was  no  hope  of  escape,  but  after 
him  came  intestine  strife  and  trouble  in  the  land 
of  the  Pharaohs,  and  a  weakening  of  their  power. 
A  natural  result,  in  the  course  of  time,  was  a  re- 
volt of  the  subject  races  against  the  brutjd  task- 
masters placed  over  them. 


seh  vitude  in  eg  ypt  19 

Tradition  unquestionably  exaggerated  greatly 
the  number  of  the  Hebrews  in  Egypt,  the  length 
of  their  stay,  and  the  perils  of  their  escape.  It  is 
Characteristic,  not  only  of  the  traditions  but  of  the 
records  of  early  ages,  to  exaggerate  numbers,  dis- 
tances, and  periods  of  time,  and  to  magnify  events 
and  deeds.  Asiatic  races  are  peculiarly  addicted 
to  extravagant  expression,  and  even  in  modern 
times  they  are  not  scrupulously  exact  in  statement. 
It  is  not  remarkable  that  after  the  lapse  of  cen- 
turies, during  which  the  only  means  of  transmit- 
ting knowledge  of  the  past  Avas  by  oral  tradition, 
and  the  only  record  was  the  memory  of  successive 
generations,  the  popular  mind  became  filled  with 
marvels  associated  with  the  deliverance  from  Egyp- 
tian bondage,  and  the  escape  through  the  Red  Sea 
and  the  gloomy  wilderness  of  Mount  Sinai,  or  that 
the  first  literature  of  the  people  was  largely  made 
up  of  strange  tales  and  legends  connected  with 
that  critical  experience. 


THE  GKEAT    DELIVEEANCE 

Many  times  in  the  course  of  human  history 
there  has  been  a  remarkable  concurrence  of  favor- 
ing circumstances  and  events  to  produce  results 
of  great  moment.  One  of  the  most  striking  of 
these  seems  to  have  attended  the  escape  of  the 
Israelites  from  the  oppression  under  which  they 
had  fallen  in  Egypt.  So  far  as  can  be  determined 
by  traces  of  historical  evidence,  their  sojourn 
there  did  not  exceed  three  generations,  or  about  a 
hundred  years,  and  there  is  no  likelihood  that 
their  numbers  had  attained  more  than  a  few  thou- 
sands. They  had  become  mingled  more  or  less 
with  other  alien  bondmen  and  with  low  class 
Egyptians,  who  joined  in  their  revolt.  Wlien  the 
spirit  of  insurrection  broke  out  the  government 
had  fallen  into  extreme  weakness  and  perplexity. 
It  vv^as  beset  with  foreign  perils  and  domestic  dis- 
orders, and  just  at  that  time  came  a  scric^s  of 
troubles,  or  '•  plagues,"  to  which  the  peculiar  con- 
ditions of  tlie  land  of  the  Nile  made  it  subject 
from  time  to  time.     At  this  juncture  also  a  leader 


THE  GREAT  DELlVEIiANCE  21 

arose  exactly  fitted  by  character,  training,  and  ex- 
perience for  tlie  task  of  delivering  tlie  oppressed 
people. 

Doubtless  the  name  Moses  stands  for  a  real 
person,  though  it  became  the  centre  of  a  legend 
which  was  woven  about  it  in  a  more  and  more 
complicated  texture  for  ages.  The  name  itself 
was  Egyptian,  and  its  possessor  may  have  shared 
the  blood  and  spirit  of  both  the  subject  and  the 
ruling  race,  with  the  Israelite  mother  strong  in 
his  nature,  or  he  may  have  been  adopted  and 
trained  in  tlie  royal  family,  as  the  primitive  legend 
says,  and  received  the  name  from  them.  He  was 
probably  versed  in  the  learning  and  mysteries  of 
Egypt,  and  he  may  have  held  a  place  in  the  gov- 
erning class,  with  some  official  relation  toward 
those  held  in  bondage.  Nor  is  there  anything 
incredible  in  the  story  of  his  affinity  with  a  priest 
of  Midian,  or  in  that  of  his  murder  of  an  Egyptian 
who  had  maltreated  a  Hebrew,  a  deed  which  be- 
came a  determining  cause  in  his  subsequent  career. 

Amid  the  mists  of  tradition  and  the  clouds  of 
conjecture  formed  out  of  them,  one  clear  fact 
stands  out.  A  specially  qualified  leader,  who  was 
always  known  as  Moses,  arose  to  take  advantage 
of  an  exceptional  situation  and  to  extricate  the 
children  of  Israel  from  their  galling  servitude. 
He   succeeded   in   conducting   them    to  the  other 


22  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

side  of  the  Keel  Sea,  where  they  were  safe  from 
pursuit,  and  in  afterward  leading  them  through 
tlie  wilderness  that  intervened  between  the  Sea 
and  the  region  below  the  valley  of  the  Jordan, 
memories  of  which  may  still  have  lingered  among 
the  patriarchs  of  the  ancient  tribe. 

The  Eed  Sea  at  that  time  extended  farther 
north  than  at  present,  in  a  series  of  shallows  and 
lagoons,  and  in  certain  states  of  wind  and  tide 
this  projecting  arm  could  be  safely  crossed  on  the 
uncovered  sands.  A  lulling  or  shifting  of  the 
wind  and  a  turning  of  the  tide  would  bring  back 
the  waters  in  a  surging  tumult.  Advantage  was 
taken  of  this  situation  in  a  manner  that  gave  rise 
to  one  of  the  most  thrilling  episodes  in  the  story 
of  the  exodus.  One  of  those  touches  in  the  story 
which  incidentally  reveal  the  moral  standard  of 
the  time,  not  discountenanced  at  the  later  day 
when  the  story  was  written,  is  the  account  of  the 
plundering  of  the  Egyptians,  not  boldly  but  by 
craft,  on  the  eve  of  the  flight.  It  was  even  at- 
tributed to  divine  command. 

The  course  which  brought  the  people  into  the 
forbidding  region  about  Mount  Sinai  was  doubt- 
less followed  on  account  of  a  fear  of  pursuit  and 
a  desire  to  avoid  encountering  hostile  bands  or 
striking  the  regular  caravan  routes.  The  strip  of 
desert  upon  which  they  first  entered  on  turning 


THE  GREAT  DELIVERANCE  33 

southward  must  have  been  less  barren  than  it  is 
now,  for  it  is  known  to  have  been  occupied  for 
a  long  time  by  a  scattered  or  wandering  popula- 
tion. But  the  exiles  doubtless  suffered  there  f lom 
hunger  and  thirst,  notwithstanding  the  spoils  and 
su23plies  that  they  were  able  to  take  with  them. 
It  is  easy  to  conjecture  incidents  of  fact  Avhich 
became  the  source  of  miraculous  tales  in  the 
record  made  up  in  after  ages,  but  it  is  impossible 
to  ascertain  anything  as  absolute  fact  in  that 
record.  The  effort  to  mitigate  the  brackishness 
of  water  by  casting  into  it  branches  of  certain 
trees  is  not  unknown  in  other  episodes  of  human 
experience.  An  ancient  fragment  of  popular  song, 
preserved  in  the  Book  of  Numbers,  tells  of  the 
discovery  of  a  spring  which  the  princes  of  the 
people  opened  by  digging  in  the  sand  with  their 
staves,  and  this  was  doubtless  the  origin  of  the 
legend  of  smiting  the  rock.  Coveys  of  quail  were 
not  uncommon  in  this  Avilderness,  and  there  was 
an  edible  gum  which  exuded  from  certain  trees, 
known  to  the  Arabs  as  Mann-es-Sema,  or  "  Gift 
of  God."  AVitli  such  meagre  resources  the  people 
were  able  to  eke  out  their  subsistence  at  this  try- 
ing time. 

In  migrating  in  semi-tropical  desert  lands  it  has 
alwaj^s  been  the  custom  to  rest  in  camp  in  the 
daytime,  and   to  linger   for  days   together  where 


24*  TWE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

verdiu'e  and  water  are  found,  and  to  make  marches 
from  point  to  point  by  niglit.  The  column  of 
smoke  rising  in  the  serene  atmosphere  from  the 
central  camp,  and  the  torches  carried  on  long  poles 
at  the  head  of  the  marching  column,  doubtless 
gave  rise  to  the  legend  of  the  pillar  of  cloud  by 
day  and  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night.  The  con- 
tinual altar  fires  during  a  period  of  halt  became 
a  cloud  enveloping  the  ark. 

Mount  Sinai,  standing  in  gloomy  solitude  in  the 
depths  of  the  wilderness,  was  the  reputed  abode 
of  a  terrible  deity,  and  a  sojourn  in  its  neighbor- 
hood was  calculated  to  produce  a  deep  and  last- 
ing impression.  It  presented  a  fitting  scene  for 
a  halt,  out  of  the  reach  of  present  danger,  where 
the  fleeing  remnant  of  the  old  Hebrew  tribes, 
cut  off  from  all  the  world,  might  consider  its 
future  destiny.  The  three  months  occupied  in 
the  flight  from  Egypt  had  been  full  of  privation 
and  hardship.  Once  a  hostile  band  of  Amalekites 
had  been  encountered,  and  blood  had  been  shed 
in  actual  conflict.  This  "  battle "  at  Eephidim 
was  the  first  in  the  "  wars  "celebrated  in  the  prim- 
itive literature  of  the  Hebrews  and  was  perhaps 
the  origin  of  the  national  hatred  of  Amalek.  It 
began  a  new  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  race. 


VI 

EAELY  CONCEPTIONS  OF  DEITY 

These  Semitic  wanderers  were  no  more  free 
than  other  primitive  peoples  from  the  characteris- 
tics belonging  to  the  infancy  of  mankind.  They 
were  credulous,  superstitious,  and  susceptible  to 
fears  of  the  unseen,  and  were  ready  to  attribute 
the  visible  and  audible  phenomena  of  nature  to 
some  awful  power  above  or  about  them,  upon 
whose  favor  life  depended.  Conceptions  of  divin- 
ity have  always  been  determined  by  the  character 
of  humanity,  and  no  moral  standard  for  which 
divine  sanction  was  claimed  has  ever  been  higher 
than  the  moral  altitude  of  the  best  men  of  the 
time.  A  continuous  line  of  tradition  through 
forty  centuries  seems  to  indicate  that  those  early 
nomads  upon  the  outskirts  of  Mesopotamia  had 
tended  strongly  toward  a  sublime  monotheism. 
There  are  signs  of  a  primitive  belief  in  a  myste- 
rious set  of  beings  called  Elohs,  or  Elohim,  repre- 
senting the  powers  of  Nature,  after  the  manner  of 
the  divinities  of  polytheistic  races,  but  these  were 
gathered  into  a  single  personification,  and  Elohim 


26  THE  JEWISH  SCRTPTURFS 

became  the  designation  for  one  all-pervading 
Deity. 

The  idea  of  the  separate  Eloh  persisted  for  a 
long  time  with  some  modification,  and  traces  of  it 
appear  in  stories  of  the  messengers  who  visited 
Abram  at  Mamre  and  abode  with  Lot  in  Sodom,  in 
the  Beni-Elohim,  or  Sons  of  God,  who  in  com- 
merce with  the  daughters  of  men  begat  giants,  and 
in  the  angels  of  Jacob's  dream,  ascending  and 
descending  on  the  heights  of  Luz.  In  the  nomadic 
days  there  may  have  been  something  of  the  prim- 
itive forms  of  worship,  by  means  of  offerings  and 
sacrifices,  to  placate  the  deity  or  to  win  his  favor, 
but  the  artificial  system  into  which  it  was  devel- 
oped did  not  belong  to  this  age.  The  patriarchal 
chief  was  the  only  priest ;  the  Nabi,  or  prophet, 
the  Cohen,  or  priest,  and  the  Levi,  or  minister  of 
worship,  were  alike  unknown.  In  the  simple  life  in 
tents  and  under  the  open  sky  the  germs  of  a  lofty 
conception  of  family  life  and  of  social  relations 
had  started  into  being,  and  were  destined  to  retain 
their  vitality  through  all  the  subsequent  trials  and 
changes  till  the  mission  of  the  Hebrew  race  was 
fulfilled. 

Bat  that  hundred  years  on  the  verge  of  Egyp- 
tian influence  had  produced  radical  and  enduring- 
effects.  It  had  not  wholly  obliterated  the  tradi- 
tions of  Babylonia,  of  Ur-Chasdim,  and  Paddan- 


EARLY  CONCEPTIONS   OF  DEITY  21 

aram,  or  the  vague  memories  of  the  wanderings 
below  the  Jordan  valley  to  Beer-sheba.  A  hazy 
conception  of  the  mighty  Elohim  remained,  but 
the  land  of  Goshen  was  within  the  circle  of  the 
influence  of  Memphis  and  Heliopolis.  Egypt  was 
already  old  in  religion  and  in  the  forms  and  appli- 
ances of  worship,  and  the  sojourners  within  her 
borders  did  not  escape  the  influence  of  the  cult  of 
Isis  and  Osiris.  They  became  familiar  wdth  ma- 
terial representations  of  Deity  and  the  elaborate 
paraphernalia  and  ceremonial  of  worship  in  the 
land  of  the  Pharaohs,  and  did  not  remain  igno- 
rant of  the  moral  codes  and  spiritual  speculations 
which  were  the  product  of  a  systematic  priesthood. 
The  ancient  Hebrews  were  never  endowed  with 
originality,  ingenuity,  or  artistic  sense  regarding 
the  externals  of  life.  They  borrowed  their  mate- 
rials and  their  forms  from  others,  and  it  was  from 
Egypt  that  they  derived  most  that  related  to  the 
outward  forms  and  modes  of  religion.  There  they 
got  the  idea  of  an  ordered  priesthood,  of  vest- 
ments, musical  accompaniments  and  dances,  as 
appurtenances  of  sacrifice  and  worship.  The  port- 
able shrine,  so  long  known  as  the  Ark  of  the  Cov- 
enant, was  an  Egyptian  appliance  in  its  origin,  as 
w^as  the  table  of  shewbread  ;  and  the  cherubim  as  a 
feature  of  sacred  decoration  were  a  modification  of 
the  sphinx.     The  long  sojourn  within  the  influence 


28  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

of  old  Egypt  begat  the  propensity  to  idolatrous 
worship,  whicli  proved  so  hard  to  resist,  and  to 
divination  and  the  consulting  of  oracles.  The 
Ephod  and  the  mysterious  device  of  the  Urim  and 
Thummim  were  borrowed  from  the  sorcerers  of  the 
Nile. 

But  the  traditions  of  the  patriarchal  age  and 
the  effects  of  Egyptian  bondage  were  alike  deeply 
sundered  by  some  mighty  and  mysterious  influence 
in  that  memorable  passage  through  the  wilderness. 
It  wrought  profoundly  upon  the  race  as  it  struggled 
from  servitude  to  conquest.  It  may  fairly  be  said 
that  the  most  conspicuous  result  of  that  experience, 
that  gestation  of  overwrought  emotions,  that  fer- 
ment of  hopes  and  fears,  and  the  persistent  work- 
ing of  an  indomitable  genius  upon  the  plastic 
material  of  a  homeless  people,  was  the  production 
of  the  national  ''  God  of  Israel." 

Generally  among  primitive  people  the  inacces- 
sible tops  of  lonely  mountain  peaks  were  imagined 
to  be  the  abode  of  awful  deities.  When  clouds 
and  darkness  gathered  there,  they  sent  forth  the 
lightnings  and  uttered  their  voices  in  thunder.  On 
invisible  chariots  they  rolled  through  the  skies, 
carrying  terror  to  the  puny  dwellers  of  the  earth. 
Mount  Sinai  in  its  rocky  grandeur  and  desolate 
surroundings,  subject  to  the  violent  caprices  of  a 
changeful  climate,  was  peculiarly  adapted  to  be  the 


EARLY  COXCEPTIONS   OF  DEITY  29 

abode  of  the  awful  majesty  of  the  heavens.  What 
happened  there  when  the  harassed  exiles  gathered 
in  awe  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  and  their  leader 
disappeared  in  its  solitudes,  no  man  can  know. 
What  in  after  ages  vv^as  believed  to  have  happened 
there  has  been  recorded  in  the  most  enduring 
writing  that  has  come  from  the  hand  of  man.  We 
do  know  that  from  that  tremendous  agony  of  Sinai 
and  the  v»ilderness,  Israel  came  forth  with  Jehovah 
as  its  recognized  God  and  the  ruler  of  its  destinies. 
The  first  Hebrew  TVTiting  made  no  use  of  vowels, 
and  the  four  characters  that  have  been  erroneously 
rendered  in  English  as  "  Jehovah  "  came  to  be  re- 
garded as  unpronounceable,  or  as  an  "unspeak- 
able "  name.  The  proper  form  is  Jahwe  or  Yah- 
veh,  and  the  name  was  of  Assyrian  origin,  the  fem- 
inine equivalent,  I-Iav>^wa,  being  the  original  of  Eve, 
the  "  mother  of  life."  Jahwe  seems  to  hjive  denoted 
the  mysterious  source  of  natural  phenomena,  and 
its  application  must  have  made  a  deep  impression 
upon  the  Semitic  mind  during  the  sojourns  on  the 
borders  of  Assyria,  or  it  would  not  have  been  car- 
ried so  long  in  memory,  to  be  finally  adoj^ted  as 
the  appellation  of  the  God  of  the  returning  Israel- 
ites. 


VII 

THE  GOD  OF  ISKAEL 

Only  a  germ  of  the  conception  Avliicli  was  de- 
veloped into  the  great  Jehovah  of  Israel  could 
have  been  planted  in  the  minds  of  the  people  dur- 
ing this  brief  but  memorable  halt  in  the  vale  by 
Mount  Sinai.  But  there  were  opportunities  for 
fostering  it  during  the  subsequent  wandering 
through  the  wilderness,  which  occupied  several 
months,  though  but  a  fraction  of  the  period  of 
forty  years  which  later  tradition  assigned  to  it. 
No  doubt  there  were  long  stops  where  forage  and 
water  were  found,  and  privations  and  distress  in 
the  barren  wastes  that  intervened.  It  Avas  in- 
evitable that  in  these  trials  discontent  and  turbu- 
lence should  break  out,  and  that  the  people  should 
murmur  against  their  leaders,  and  look  back  with 
longing  to  the  comparative  comfort  of  the  bondage 
from  which  they  had  been  taken.  On  such  occa- 
sions their  leaders,  and  especially  the  one  great 
leader  upon  whom  they  mainly  relied,  must  have 
been  forced  to  every  device  that  could  work  upon 
the  hopes  and  fears  of  a  superstitious  multitude,  to 


THE   GOD   OF  ISRAEL  31 

maintain  authority  and  prevent  irretrievable  dis- 
aster. Then  could  they  invoke  the  terrible  God 
who  had  revealed  liimseK  in  the  thunders  of  the 
mountain -top  and  whose  commands  they  had 
sought  and  obtained  in  its  dark  recesses,  to  bring 
the  murmurers  into  subjection.  Doubtless  every 
calamitous  incident  of  a  perilous  journey  was 
turned  to  account  in  enforcing  discipline  and  be- 
came the  source  of  some  tale  of  miraculous  inter- 
position. It  is  almost  certain  that  epidemics 
broke  out  in  camps  where  long  sta3^s  were  made 
without  sanitary  safeguards  ;  there  may  have  been 
an  encounter  with  venomous  serpents,  a  destruc- 
tive fire  in  the  camp,  a  stroke  of  lightning,  or  a 
shock  of  earthquake.  The  legends  of  divine  wrath 
and  terrible  punishment  for  disobedience  which 
appear  in  the  record  of  after  times,  doubtless  orig- 
inated with  such  incidents,  and  it  is  probable  that 
Moses  and  the  "  princes  "  and  "  nobles  "  of  the 
people  made  use  of  them  to  the  utmost  in  main- 
taining their  authority. 

But  more  than  this  was  needed.  The  people 
mubt  be  inspired  with  hope  as  well  as  restrained 
by  fear.  Until  they  had  passed  through  the  first 
stretch  of  wilderness  to  the  region  of  Kadesh,  or 
Ezion-Geber,  there  was  probably  little  thought  of 
anything  but  escape  from  the  terrors  they  were 
leaving  behind.     But  here  they  must  have  come 


3:3  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

upon  traces  of  the  migrations  of  tlieir  ancestors, 
wliicli  under  the  spur  of  famine  had  finally  car- 
ried them  over  the  borders  of  Egypt.  We  cannot 
tell  from  the  record,  written  long  after  the  event 
and  in  the  light  of  subsequent  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience, what  memories  revived  or  what  associa- 
tions were  recalled,  connected  Avith  wanderings 
and  sojourns  in  the  land  of  the  Jordan.  The 
writers  of  that  record  were  intent,  not  only  u23on 
accounting  for  the  origin  and  relating  the  early 
experience  of  their  race,  but  upon  explaining  and 
justifying  the  conquest  of  the  land  of  which  their 
race  had  become  possessed,  and  the  traditions 
which  they  made  use  of  had  accumulated  in  the 
ages  between  Moses  and  Jeroboam. 

When  the  refugees  from  Egyptian  bondage 
found  themselves  upon  the  borders  of  the  land 
sanctified  to  them  in  some  measure  at  least  by 
memories  of  their  forefathers,  cherished  through  a 
long  and  bitter  exile,  a  return  to  the  nomadic 
state  was  no  longer  possible.  They  found  no 
place  in  which  they  could  remain  in  peace.  One 
of  the  petty  chiefs  of  the  south  had  made  a  dis- 
comfiting attack  upon  them,  and  they  were  forced 
to  move  on.  Edom  and  Moab  were  too  power- 
ful for  them  to  displace,  and  received  them  in  no 
friendly  mood.  These  kindred  tribes,  through 
jealousy  or  fear,  refused  to  let  them  pass  through 


THE  GOD   OF  ISRAEL  33 

their  domain,  thereby  incurring  the  lasting  enmity 
of  Israel,  who  was  forced  to  make  the  long  detour 
in  the  wilderness  in  which  so  much  was  suffered. 

It  is  evident  that  in  their  perplexing  situation 
these  homeless  people  were  in  some  way  strongly 
impressed  with  the  idea  that  they  had  a  right  of 
possession  in  the  lands  over  which  their  fathers 
had  roamed,  and  upon  which  they  had  set  up 
monuments  marking  the  places  of  their  longer  so- 
journs or  their  more  notable  experiences.  Memo- 
ries of  the  Jordan  valley,  and  the  hills  and  vales 
of  Canaan,  transmitted  from  father  to  son  in  the 
bondsmen's  tents  of  the  land  of  Goshen  and  the 
cabins  of  the  fellaheen  of  Khameses,  through  the 
dark  period  of  exile  and  servitude,  doubtless  pict- 
ured in  their  minds  a  delightful  land  "  flowing 
with  milk  and  honey,"  and  they  were  easily  per- 
suaded that  it  w^as  their  own  proper  heritage. 
They  were  in  a  mood  to  be  convinced  that  the 
terrible  God  who  had  been  revealed  to  them  and 
had  dealt  so  severely  with  them  in  the  wilderness 
had  given  that  coveted  land  to  their  fathers  and 
had  made  a  solemn  covenant  that  it  should  be 
possessed  by  their  children.  He  it  was  that  had 
delivered  them  from  Egyptian  bondage  and  he 
would  lead  them  into  the  promised  land.  This 
conviction  afforded  a  powerful  motive  to  be 
wrought  upon  in  establishing  the  authority  of 
3 


84  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

Jeliovali  over  the  people,  and  in  holding  them  in 
obedience  to  leaders  who  professed  to  receive 
commands  direct  from  this  mighty  divinity. 

Out  of  the  exigencies  of  that  time  and  the  time 
that  followed,  down  to  the  establishment  of  the 
kingdom,  was  wrought  the  greatest  of  ancient 
legends,  that  of  the  God  of  Israel,  who  had 
brought  Abraham  out  of  the  land  of  the  Chaldees 
and  promised  to  his  posterity  the  goodly  heritage 
of  Canaan ;  who  met  Jacob  on  the  hill  of  Luz  and 
repeated  the  promise  ;  who  brought  his  chosen 
people  out  of  the  house  of  bondage  and  led  them 
through  the  Red  Sea  and  the  desert  wilderness,  to 
renew  his  covenant  with  the  seed  of  Abraham. 
How  much  of  this  was  developed  during  the  brief 
sojourn  near  Mount  Sinai  and  the  trying  months 
that  followed  we  cannot  tell,  but  enough  to  impress 
the  people  with  their  right  to  possess  the  land  of 
whose  delights  they  dreamed  and  to  nerve  them 
for  its  conquest.  They  were  brought  under  dis- 
cipline through  dread  of  Jehovah's  wrath,  and  in- 
spired to  effort  by  confidence  in  his  promises,  all 
of  which  is  evidence  of  the  genius  of  the  great 
leader  known  as  Moses. 

The  conception  of  Jehovah,  formed  at  the  time 
of  the  long  struggle  from  bondage  to  conquest, 
and  designed  to  carry  that  struggle  to  success, 
represents    a  tribal  deity  not  greatly  different  in 


THE   GOD    OF  ISRAEL  35 

characteristics  from  the  Chemosh  of  Moab  and  the 
Baal  of  Ammon.  To  a  rational  mind,  since  the 
profound  modification  wrought  in  our  ideas  by 
Christianity  and  by  modern  philosophy,  this  con- 
ception seems  monstrous,  but  it  was  adapted  to 
the  character  of  the  people  in  whom  it  was 
awakened,  to  the  stage  of  mental  and  moral 
growth  which  they  had  attained,  and  to  the  exi- 
gencies of  their  situation.  In  fact  it  was  the  prod- 
uct of  these  factors  wrought  out  by  the  genius 
of  their  leaders.  It  was  the  conception  of  a  being 
of  terrible  power,  fiercely  jealous  of  other  gods, 
exacting  complete  submission  and  obedience  as 
the  price  of  his  favor,  liable  to  outbreaks  of  furi- 
ous anger,  needing  to  be  placated  by  offerings 
and  bloody  sacrifices,  and  by  shows  of  humility, 
but  capable  of  loving-kindness  and  tender  mercy 
to  the  submissive,  and  sure  to  rcAvard  the  obedi- 
ent. In  conflicts  with  the  subjects  of  other  gods 
he  sanctioned  craft  and  cruelty,  but  in  later  days 
this  conce23tion  was  softened  and  expanded,  so  as 
to  include  the  sublimer  attributes  of  the  Eloliim, 
until  Jehovah  was  transformed  into  the  Lord  God 
of  the  great  prophets,  and  the  loving  Father  of 
the  still  greater  teacher  of  Galilee. 

While  commands  of  the  great  leader  of  the  de- 
liverance, long  treasured  by  the  people  as  coming 
direct  from  Jehovah,  may  have  contained  germs 


3G  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

of  the  "Torali,"  that  system  of  "statutes  and 
ordinances,"  and  Moses  himself  in  the  character  of 
law-giver,  AV(3re  the  product  of  later  times.  In  the 
primitive  narratives  covering  the  long  period  of 
national  or  tribal  life,  before  the  time  of  the  two 
kingdoms,  there  is  no  trace  of  knowledge  or  ob- 
servance of  the  "  law."  The  real  Moses,  versed  in 
the  lore  of  Egypt,  and  possibly  acquainted  with 
the  language  of  inscriptions  in  Midian  or  Moab, 
may  have  had  command  of  some  form  of  writing, 
though  that  of  the  Hebrews  was  long  after  derived 
from  Phoenicia,  but  the  account  of  the  tables  of 
stone  was  first  given  at  least  four  hundred  years 
after  his  time.  The  only  other  mention  of  them 
in  all  the  history  of  Israel,  save  in  the  Deuterono- 
mic  expansion  of  the  law,  speaks  of  them  as  being 
found  in  the  ancient  ark  of  the  covenant  and 
placed  in  the  first  temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  that 
mention  was  made  more  than  four  other  centuries 
after  the  alleged  finding.  Not  the  slightest  refer- 
ence is  made  to  this  sacred  souvenir  as  being 
among  the  treasures  of  the  temple  when  it  was 
finally  plundered  and  destroyed.  The  consecrated 
code  known  as  the  "  Ten  Words,"  or  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments, was, in  fact  first  formulated  about  five 
centuries  after  the  occupation  of  the  land  of  Ca- 
naan. 


VIII 
INVADING  THE   PEOMISED   LAND 

When  once  the  purpose  of  taking  possession  of 
the  land  along  the  Jordan  and  driving  out  or  sub- 
jugating its  inhabitants  became  fixed,  a  change 
seems  to  have  come  over  the  spirit  of  the  people, 
which  is  clearly  reflected  in  the  earliest  written 
material  of  their  story.  A  confident  and  aggres- 
sive quality  was  developed,  a  definite  plan  of  in- 
vasion and  conquest  took  the  place  of  the  turbulent 
movements  of  fugitives,  and  something  of  the 
character  of  military  leadership  appeared.  The 
most  available  territory  lay  in  a  narrow  strip,  a 
hundred  miles  long  or  more,  on  the  eastern  bank 
of  the  Jordan.  It  had  been  wrested  from  Moab 
by  warlike  bands  from  the  other  side  of  the  river, 
and  was  divided  into  two  petty  realms  under 
"  Sihon,  king  of  the  Amorites,"  and  "  Og,  king  of 
Bashan." 

These  two  marauding  chiefs  were  alien  to  the 
pastoral  people  upon  whom  they  had  imposed 
their  rule,  and  doubtless  maintained  their  power 
with  a  handful   of   Amorito   warriors.     The   Mo- 


38  THE  JEWISH  SCRTPTURES 

abites  were  willing  enough  to  see  that  power  dis- 
placed, and  this  first  conquest  of  the  resolute 
Israelites  must  have  been  an  easy  one.  They  first 
attacked  the  little  realm  of  Sihon  and  took  posses- 
sion of  Heshbon,  his  capital,  and  afterward  ex- 
tended their  occupation  northward  over  Bashan, 
meeting  with  feeble  resistance.  The  "  kings  "  of 
course  were  slain.  This  first  victory  gave  the 
weary  exiles  a  chance  to  settle  down  at  last  upon 
a  land  that  would  afford  them  subsistence  and  re- 
pose after  their  trials  and  hardships.  Here  they 
could  recruit  their  strength  for  further  conquests 
when  the  time  should  be  ripe. 

Naturally  the  exploits  connected  with  the  seiz- 
ing of  the  land  from  the  Arnon  to  the  Jabbok  be- 
came magnified  and  glorified  in  the  oral  traditions 
which  were  long  after  embodied  in  "  The  Book  of 
Jasher  "  and  "  The  Wars  of  Jehovah."  These  con- 
tained the  material  most  nearly  authentic  used  in 
the  account  that  has  come  down  to  us,  but  they 
were  filled  with  the  exaggerations  and  marvels 
characteristic  of  early  productions  of  the  kind. 
While  only  fragments  of  this  primitive  material 
have  been  preserved  without  change,  considerable 
passages  of  the  narrative  incorporated  in  the 
record  were  evidently  derived  from  it.  Though 
this  record  represents  Moses  as  continuing  to  lead 
and  command  the  "  host "  of   Israel  until  it  had 


TXVADma    THE  PROMISED  LAND  39 

gained  possession  of  the  land  on  the  east  of  the 
Jordan,  the  fragments  of  original  material  and  of 
primitive  narrative  indicate  his  disappearance  at 
the  borders  of  Moab.  In  fact,  as  the  light  of 
actual  history  begins  dimly  to  expand,  that  im- 
posing figure  fades  mysteriously  from  our  view. 
But  that  of  Joshua,  though  less  shadowy,  is  not 
less  legendary. 

This  name  is  first  mentioned  in  connection  with 
the  little  skirmish  with  the  Amalekites  in  the  wil- 
derness, known  as  the  "  battle  "  of  Kephidim,  and, 
in  its  original  form  of  "  Hoshea,"  means  "  the  Con- 
queror." This  indicates  that  it  was  a  name  applied, 
after  the  event,  to  a  legendary  hero  to  whose  lead- 
ership the  military  achievements  of  the  conquest 
of  Canaan  were  attributed.  No  part  of  the  an- 
cient record  has  less  of  real  historical  character 
than  that  which  purports  to  contain  an  account  of 
those  exploits.  There  was  in  reality  no  immediate 
invasion  of  the  land  to  the  west  of  the  Jordan, 
with  a  systematic  division  and  occupation  of  the 
territory.  The  picture  of  rapid  and  vigorous  con- 
quest, under  the  divinely  directed  leadership  of 
Joshua,  is  produced  by  a  close  groujDing  of  inci- 
dents scattered  over  a  long  interval  of  later  time. 
In  this  picture  there  is  a  striking  exaggeration  of 
details,  mingled  with  miraculous  elements,  drawn 
from  the  crude  epic  material  of  popular  songs  and 


40  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

legends,  the  outlines  of  which  have  been  effaced  while 
the  color  and  substance  still  appear  here  and  there.. 
In  reality  the  sojourn  to  the  east  of  the  Jordan 
extended  over  a  series  of  years  ;  how  long  we  can- 
not tell.  Nor  was  it  altogether  peaceful.  The 
jealousy  of  Moab  revived,  and  it  became  an  un- 
friendly neighbor.  There  is  an  account  of  one 
bloody  conflict  with  hostile  Midianites.  The 
curious  story  of  Balaam,  interjected  in  the  rec- 
ord, we  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  to  hereafter. 
This  territory,  still  occupied  in  part  by  the  orig- 
inal inhabitants,  was  for  the  most  part  adapted 
only  to  a  pastoral  or  rather  meagre  agricultural 
life,  and  as  the  number  of  the  people  increased 
the  need  of  expansion  was  seriously  felt.  Beyond 
the  river  was  a  variegated  country,  stretching  for 
a  hundred  miles  and  more  along  its  western  bank, 
and  having  a  breadth  of  forty  to  fifty  miles  before 
the  formidable  barrier  of  the  Philistines  and 
Phoenicians  was  reached.  It  was  in  the  possession 
of  a  number  of  related  but  not  united  tribes,  none 
of  which  was  either  numerous  or  powerful.  It 
was  not,  as  a  whole,  a  rich  or  a  fertile  land,  but  to 
those  whose  memory  was  of  a  wandering  life  in 
the  desert,  and  who  found  a  scanty  subsistence  on 
the  narrow  plains  east  of  the  Jordan,  it  seemed  to 
flow  with  milk  and  honey  and  to  promise  abodes  of 
peace  and  plenty. 


INVADING    THE  PROMISED  LAND  41 

Tlieir  situation,  with  hostile  neighbors  on  their 
southern  border,  and  with  a  constant  liabihty  of 
attack  from  plundering  bands,  had  compelled  the 
Israelites  to  keep  up  something  of  a  warlike  spirit 
and  to  maintain  a  military  force.  As  they  gained 
in  strength  the  desire  to  enter  upon  their  heritage 
over  the  river  and  possess  it,  grew  more  intense, 
and  with  that  desire,  no  doubt,  their  confidence 
increased  in  their  right  by  ancestral  occupation 
and  divine  promise.  Its  possession  was,  in  fact, 
not  only  justified  to  their  minds,  but  made  a  duty 
by  the  absolute  command  of  Jehovah.  They  had 
maintained  a  camp  and  general  rallying-place, 
nearly  opposite  Jericho,  on  a  plain  known  as  the 
"  Plain  of  Acacias  "  (Shittim).  In  that  neighbor- 
hood the  Jordan  was  a  shallow  stream,  easily 
forded  except  in  times  of  freshet. 

The  "  nations "  of  Canaan,  as  we  have  said, 
were  small  tribes,  mostly  pastoral,  scattered  over 
the  hills  and  valleys  of  a  land  not  much  more  than 
a  hundred  miles  by  fifty  in  extent.  Their  "  kings  " 
were  tribal  chiefs,  with  bands  of  warriors  where- 
with to  maintain  their  authority,  and  their 
"cities"  were  little  more  than  camps  or  head- 
quarters for  these  petty  potentates.  If  the  people 
had  been  united  into  one  nation  they  would  not 
have  been  very  formidable,  but  they  would  jjrob- 
ably  have  been  invincible  to  the  designs  of  the 


43  TR-E  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

invaders.  Thej  were,  however,  not  accustomed  to 
act  in  concert  against  foreign  foes,  and  the  tribes 
were  not  always  on  amicable  terms  even  with  each 
other.  Their  language  differed  little  from  that  of 
the  Israelites,  and  incursions  for  "  spying  out  the 
land  "  were  not  attended  with  much  difficulty  or 
peril,  and  they  constantly  inflamed  the  desire  of 
conquest. 

The  watch-tower  of  Canaan,  and  its  outjDOst  of 
defence  on  the  east,  was  Jericho,  standing  on  a 
commanding  elevation  not  far  from  the  river  fron- 
tier. "With  its  primitive  defences  and  its  small 
population  it  had  no  great  power  of  resistance,  but 
it  was  a  formidable  obstacle  to  invaders  whose 
military  resources  were  slender  and  whose  appli- 
ances of  warfare  were  of  the  simplest.  The  most 
elementary  ideas  of  strategy  suggested  that  this 
place  must  be  utterly  destroyed  before  a  conquest 
of  the  country  beyond  could  be  safely  undertaken, 
and  it  had  to  be  accomplished  by  craft  rather  than 
force. 

"  The  wars  of  Jehovah  "  were  indeed  attended 
with  much  craft  and  cruelty,  but  the  early  history 
of  mankind  is  filled  with  struggles  for  the  posses- 
sion of  coveted  lands,  in  which  every  resource  of 
deceit  and  strategy,  and  every  advantage  of  merci- 
less slaughter,  were  employed  without  compunc- 
tion.     The   early   Israelites,    when   brought   into 


INVADING    THE  PROMISED  LAND  43 

conflict  with  their  enemies,  did  not  prove  deficient 
in  the  violent  quahties  of  primitive  human  nature, 
but  they  devek:)ped  a  degree  of  ingenuity  and 
cunning,  and  a  capacity  for  stratagem  with  wliich 
their  feeble  foemen  were  unable  to  cope.  The 
conviction  that  the  mighty  Jehovah  had  given  this 
land  to  their  fathers  and  confirmed  it  to  them  as 
their  rightful  heritage,  that  he  had  commanded 
them  to  take  possession  of  it  and  would  direct  and 
sustain  their  efforts,  sanctified  to  their  minds,  or 
at  least  to  the  minds  of  those  who  told  their  story 
after  the  task  was  done,  the  exceedingly  human 
methods  by  which  it  had  to  be  accomplished. 

Deceit,  perfidy,  treachery,  and  barbarous  atroci- 
ties were  attributed  to  divine  command.  Ke verses 
were  always  due  to  the  displeasure  of  Jehovah, 
whose  will  had  been  misunderstood  or  disregarded, 
and  \dctories  gained  by  ruthless  slaughter  were 
credited  to  his  beneficent  favor.  The  basest  and 
most  cruel  acts  were  in  some  cases  said  to  liaA^e 
been  commanded  by  the  Deity,  who  even  inter- 
vened with  miraculous  aid  to  give  them  eftect. 
Apparently  the  supernatural  element  was  infused 
into  this  bloody  story  mainly  by  the  devout  com- 
pilers of  a  much  later  time,  and  it  may  be  that 
those  who  took  part  in  the  scenes  of  carnage,  and 
those  who  first  celebrated  them  in  song  and  legend, 
felt  no  occasion  for  the  gloss  of  sanctity. 


IX 

THE  CONQUEST  OF  CANAAlsr 

The  plots  and  stratagems  bj  which  the  walled 
town  of  Jericho  was  seized  and  destroyed,  with  a 
relentless  slaughter  of  the  inhabitants,  is  so  com- 
j)letely  veiled  in  the  legendary  record  that  we  can 
form  no  definite  idea  of  them,  except  that  they 
were  masked  by  an  awe-inspiring  demonstration 
of  priests  and  soldiers  and  a  distracting  din. 
Whatever  the  means,  that  essential  preliminary  of 
the  conquest  was  achieved,  and  the  invading  forces 
left  no  danger  of  attack  from  behind.  Then  a  base 
of  operations  was  established  at  an  antique  crom- 
lech, or  gilgal,  not  far  from  the  fords  of  the  river, 
and  a  raid  was  made  upon  the  nearest  populous 
town.  It  was  mercilessly  wiped  out  and  its  desolate 
site  became  known  simply  as  "  Ai,"  the  "  Ruins." 
This  struck  terror  into  the  little  communities  about 
Gibeon,  which  was  certain  to  be  the  next  point  of 
attack.  The  remnant  of  the  Hivites  who  dwelt 
thereabouts  Avere  a  feeble  folk,  and,  according  to 
the  quaint  story,  they  resorted  to  a  trick  that 
seems  rather  puerile,  for  making  peace  with  the 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CANAAN  45 

invaders  and  saving  themselves,  at  tlie  risk  of  ex- 
citing the  resentment  of  the  more  powerful  Amo- 
rites  and  Jebusites  beyond.  A  "  king  "  who  was 
doubtless  a  successor  of  the  antique  Melchisedek, 
of  Avhom  a  passing  glimpse  is  given  in  the  legend 
of  Abraham,  managed  a  concerted  effort  to  pun- 
ish the  "  Gibeonites,"  and  to  resist  the  advancing 
*'  host "  of  Israel. 

The  combined  armies  of  the  five  confederated 
*'  kings "  could  hardly  have  been  a  formidable 
power,  their  warlike  equipment  was  of  a  primitive 
sort,  and  the  effort  at  concerted  military  strategy 
proved  ineffectual.  The  determined  front  and  en- 
ergetic action  of  the  Israelites,  inspired  by  confi- 
dence that  an  invincible  Deity  was  directing  their 
movements,  resulted  in  a  complete  rout  of  the  en- 
emy, who  were  put  to  merciless  slaughter.  The 
presumptuous  "  kings  "  suffered  the  hideous  fate 
reserved  for  those  who  ventured  to  fight  against 
the  terrible  Jehovah.  The  victory  of  Gibeon  and 
the  battle  in  the  vale  of  Ajalon,  small  as  the  scale 
of  warfare  must  have  been,  appear  in  the  ancient 
legends  as  such  prodigies  of  valor  and  carnage 
that  the  very  sun  and  moon  stood  aghast  at  the 
spectacle.  The  spirit  in  which  these  legends  were 
afterward  compiled  is  finely  illustrated  in  the 
way  this  striking  but  not  unfamiliar  hyioerbole 
was  transformed  into  a  matter-of-fact  statement. 


46  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

The  details  of  the  gradual  conquest  of  Canaan 
are  not  sufficiently  known,  and  the  record,  long 
after  made  up,  is  not  sufficiently  historical  to  jus- 
tify any  attempt  to  state  more  than  general  results. 
The  process  of  subjugation  occupied  not  less  than 
two  centuries,  and  was  not  accomplished  by  sys- 
tematic or  successive  efforts  under  any  one  leader. 
Sometimes  one  tribe  or  band,  and  sometimes  an- 
other, made  a  conquest  of  coveted  territory,  and 
often  more  than  one  joined  in  a  victorious  enter- 
prise for  a  new  possession  for  some  branch  of  the 
family  of  Israel  not  yet  adequately  provided  for. 
By  degrees  most  of  the  country  was  brought  into 
subjection,  but  it  was  long  before  complete  ascen- 
dency was  established  throughout  the  domain  af- 
terward known  as  Palestine.  The  final  account 
of  a  division  of  the  land  and  the  allotment  of  de- 
fined areas  to  different  tribes  was  quite  artificial. 

The  pastoral  clans  of  Reuben  and  Gad,  and 
most  of  the  Machirite  branch  of  Manasseh,  re- 
mained on  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan,  though 
they  appear  to  have  aided  their  brethren  in  the 
oj'iginal  invasion.  The  powerful  tribe  of  Judali 
and  the  warlike  band  known  as  Benjamin  were  the 
first  to  establish  themselves  in  the  heart  of  the 
"  promised  land."  The  former  set  up  its  capital 
at  Hebron  and  left  the  old  Jebusite  stronghold 
of   Mount  8ion  unsubdued,  while  Benjamin   was 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CANAAN  47 

settled  a  little  to  the  north  about  Gibeah.  These 
assisted  the  people  who  became  traditionally 
known  as  the  tribe  of  Simeon  in  taking  possession 
of  territory  in  the  south,  in  the  region  of  Beer- 
sheba;  but  these  never  had  any  distinct  boun- 
daries or  any  marked  tribal  characteristics,  and 
they  gradually  disappeared.  What  became  known 
as  the  tribe  of  Dan  was  established  on  the  borders 
of  Philistia,  where  it  was  so  harried  that  it  ulti- 
mately migrated  to  the  north. 

Ephraim,  the  powerful  and  jealous  rival  of 
Judah,  conquered  for  itself,  through  a  long  series 
of  bloody  conflicts,  a  large  area  just  north  of  the 
domain  of  Judah  and  Benjamin,  in  some  respects 
the  most  attractive  and  promising  part  of  the 
whole  country.  With  it  was  associated  a  portion 
of  the  related  tribe  of  Manasseh.  This  section  of 
Israel  always  laid  claim  to  superiority  of  character 
and  descent,  and  sustained  the  claim  with  the  fas- 
cinating story  of  its  great  progenitor,  Joseph, 
through  whom  the  whole  Hebrew  race  had  been 
saved  in  Egypt,  and  whose  sacred  relics  were  said 
to  have  been  buried  at  Shechem.  The  people  who 
spread  themselves  over  the  extreme  north  had  no 
distinct  tribal  peculiarities,  and  the  names  by 
wdiich  they  came  to  be  known  were  derived  from 
characteristics  of  their  situation  or  associations 
connected  with  the  land. 


48  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

Before  the  establishment  of  the  first  kmgdom 
there  was  no  union  or  effective  federation  of  tribes, 
nor,  excepting  in  the  difference,  amounting  ahnost 
to  antipathy,  between  Judah  and  Ephraim,  were 
there  anj  distinct  lines  of  division  or  well-defined 
limits  of  possession  and  authority.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  menaces  and  commands  of  extermination, 
and  the  stories  of  limitless  slaughter,  transmitted 
by  tradition  to  later  times,  the  Canaanites  w^ere 
not  driven  out,  nor  was  any  large  proportion  of 
them  destroyed.  In  places  they  retained  indepen- 
dent communities  of  their  own  and  maintained 
friendly  relations  with  the  victors.  In  others  they 
were  reduced  to  a  servile  condition,  while  in  many 
parts  they  were  practically  absorbed  with  the  new 
population.  But  in  general,  though  the  con- 
querors and  conquered  were  of  a  common  stock, 
and  akin  in  language  and  in  racial  tendencies, 
there  was  no  actual  blending.  The  stronger  strain 
became  dominant  and  maintained  its  distinctive 
qualities,  and  it  was  the  chief  aim  of  the  religious 
effort  of  Israel,  through  the  teachings  of  priest 
and  prophet,  and  through  law  and  worship,  to  pre- 
serve the  solidarity  of  "  God's  chosen  people." 

In  the  absence  of  anything  that  can  be  called 
statistics  of  those  times  it  is  not  easy  to  form  an 
approximate  estimate  of  the  number  of  the  in- 
vading or  the  subjugated  people,  nor  for  many 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CANAAN  49 

centuries  after  can  such  an  estimate  be  fairly 
made  of  the  popuhition  of  the  country,  or  of  any 
city,  or  of  the  size  of  armies  or  the  forces  en- 
gaged in  recorded  battles.  The  "  host "  that  made 
its  way  through  the  deserts,  cautiously  avoiding 
encounters  with  Edom  or  Moab,  could  not  have 
been  numerous.  TJie  strip  of  territory  long  oc- 
cupied on  the  east  of  the  Jordan  could  only  sus- 
tain a  scattered  pastoral  population  of  no  con- 
siderable number.  The  extent  of  the  land  lying 
between  the  Jordan  and  the  coast  countries,  the 
character  of  its  surface,  and  the  conditions  of  life 
among  the  Canaanite  tribes,  make  it  impossible  to 
suppose  that  the  so-called  "  nations "  had  much 
power  of  resistance,  either  in  numbers  or  re- 
sources. 

The  Israelites  were  a  more  vigorous  and  prolific 
people,  and  once  rooted  in  the  country  they  out- 
grew and  overgrew  the  native  population,  though 
they  did  not  displace  it  or  wholly  escaj^e  its  mod- 
ifying influence.  The  natural  resources  of  the 
land  and  the  known  conditions  of  industry  afford 
no  ground  for  supposing  that  the  country  ever 
became  populous  or  powerful,  or  that  any  of  its 
cities  ever  had  much  wealth  or  defensive  strength. 
The  warlike  spirit  developed  during  the  invasion 
and  conquest  speedily  subsided,  but  was  sj^as- 
modically  aroused  from  time  to  time  by  some  try- 


50  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

ing  exigency.  The  Hebrews  were  not  a  concilia- 
tory people,  and  were  apt  to  be  on  unfriendly 
terms  with  their  neighbors,  whom  they  either 
hated  or  regarded  with  contempt.  Occasionally 
the  subjugated  natives  showed  a  spirit  of  revolt, 
and  elements  of  internal  discord  among  the  tribes 
were  not  lacldng,  while  the  jealousy  between  Ju- 
dali  and  Ephraim  was  easily  stirred.  The  old 
nomadic  spirit  asserted  itself  sufficiently  to  resist 
any  kind  of  settled  government,  and  the  organ- 
ization of  society  w^as  slow  and  rudimentar}-.  The 
heads  of  the  clans  retained  a  sort  of  leadership, 
but  there  was  no  systematic  rule,  save  as  it  was 
forced  upon  the  people  as  a  means  of  self-defence. 
The  state  of  things  for  a  long  time  was  tersely 
summed  up  in  the  saying,  "Every  man  did  that 
which  was  right  in  his  own  eyes,"  a  condition  of 
practical  anarchy  which  obviously  could  not  last, 
if  Israel  was  to  become  a  power  even  for  its  own 
protection. 


THE  DEGENERATION  OF  JEHOYISM 

The  religion  Avliicli  the  people  of  Israel  carried 
into  the  land  of  Canaan  did  not  differ  so  widely  as 
we  are  apt  to  suppose  from  that  which  they  found 
there.  They  had  not  yet  learned  to  regard  their 
own  God,  Jehovah,  as  an  exclusive  deity,  except 
for  themselves.  They  conceived  of  him  as  de- 
voted to  them,  and  of  themselves  as  bound  to  him 
by  a  mutual  covenant.  He  was  to  them  a  might- 
ier God  than  the  Baal  and  Milkom,  or  Moloch,  of 
the  Hittites  and  Amorites,  or  the  Sydylc,  or 
Sedek,  of  the  Jebusites,  whose  priest  Melchisedek 
must  have  been  ;  but  he  was  simply  their  God,  as 
these  were  the  gods  of  the  Canaanites,  and  as 
Chemosh  was  the  god  of  Moab,  whose  rights  they 
recognized  within  his  OAvn  jurisdiction.  Though 
to  their  minds  Jehovah  had  conquered  the  land 
and  established  his  dominion  there,  they  could  not 
divest  themselves  of  a  certain  dread  of  the  other 
gods,  or  resist  wholly  the  seduction  of  their  wor- 
ship. The  weakness  of  their  nature  was  appealed 
to  in  the    sensual  rites  of    13aal-peor  and  Ashte- 


52  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTUItES 

roth  in  the  groves  of  the  "  higli  places,"  and  the 
desire  of  simple  people  for  some  visible  symbol  of 
the  object  of  their  worship  caused  them  to  lapse 
easily  into  idolatry.  In  establishing  their  own 
sacred  places  they  took  possession  of  those  con- 
secrated by  their  predecessors,  connecting  with 
them  some  tradition  of  their  ov>^n  race. 

After  they  left  the  original  camp  at  Gilgal,  they 
set  up  the  portable  sanctuary,  which  was  the  pal- 
ladium of  their  faith,  first  at  Bethel,  which  became 
a  general  rally ing-point  for  all  Israel  and  was 
sanctified  by  the  story  of  the  covenant  with  Jacob. 
It  was  afterward  placed  at  Sliiloh,  which  long 
continued  to  be  the  centre  of  religious  celebra- 
tion for  the  new  nation.  The  Ephraimites  made 
Shechem  their  principal  sacred  place,  and  conse- 
crated it  with  the  legend  of  Abraham's  visit  and 
Joseph's  burial,  and  built  altars  on  Mount  Ebal 
and  Mount  Gerizim.  An  interesting  indication  of 
how  the  gods  v/ere  regarded  is  to  be  found  in  the 
conduct  of  the  bands  of  Reubenites  and  Gadites, 
who  on  returning  to  their  own  allotted  land  be- 
yond the  Jordan,  built  an  altar  at  the  border, 
lest  they  should  be  cut  off  from  all  share  in  the 
protection  of  Jehovah.  They  afterward  came,  in 
fact,  to  be  regarded  as  aliens  in  religion  and 
blood,  and  finally  fell  out  of  the  life  of  Israel  and 
were  absorbed  bv  Moab  and  Ammon. 


THE  DEGENERATION  OF  JEBOVISM  53 

Tiie  teudeucy  to  lapse  into  idoktry  and  to  Avor- 
sliip  other  gods  Avas  accompanied  by  a  degener- 
ation of  Jeliovism  itself.  There  were  cases  of 
imitation  of  the  most  hideous  rite  of  Moloch,  that 
of  human  sacrifice,  and  the  moral  restraints  of 
devotion  Avere  almost  lost  sight  of.  But  the  most 
conspicuous  aspect  of  religion  during  the  long 
period  from  the  settlement  of  the  tribes  in  Canaan 
to  the  consolidation  of  the  nation  under  the  kings, 
came  from  an  application  of  lessons  learned  in 
Egyptian  servitude.  The  serpent  was  a  general 
embodiment  of  divinity  in  Egypt,  and  for  a  long 
time  the  Nehustan,  or  brazen  serpent,  was  preserved 
as  a  sacred  talisman  in  Israel.  According  to  one  of 
the  Mosaic  legends  it  Avas  made  by  the  great  leader 
as  a  protection  against  the  "  fiery  serpents  "  in  the 
wilderness,  but  it  could  have  served  that  purpose  in 
the  popular  mind  only  by  being  looked  upon  as  in 
some  sort  a  symbol  of  Jehovah.  It  was  cherished 
as  such  until  the  strong  reaction  against  the  gross 
materialism  into  Avhich  worship  had  fallen,  Avrought 
by  the  influence  of  the  first  great  prophets,  caused 
it  to  be  destroyed  with  other  tokens  of  idolatry. 

There  were  other  representations  of  Jehovah, 
the  form  of  Avhicli  cannot  be  clearly  ascertained, 
and  the  images  called  teraphim  Avere  a  sort  of 
household  gods  and  part  of  the  paraphernalia  of 
Avorship.     Sorcery  and  divination  had  as  strong  a 


54  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

hold  at  one  time  upon  the  children  of  Israel  as 
upon  the  children  of  other  races,  and  was  ac- 
companied by  the  same  tendency  to  impose  the 
wisdom  of  sages  upon  the  simple-minded  as  revela- 
tions of  the  divine  will.  In  these  practices,  as  may 
be  clearly  seen  in  the  story  of  Gideon,  and  that  of 
Micah,  whose  oracle  was  stolen  by  a  baud  of  mi- 
grating Danites,  the  symbols  of  Jehovah  and  his 
worship  were  used.  The  Ephod  and  the  Urim  and 
Thummim  were  originally  mechanical  devices  used 
in  divination ;  but  when  the  temj)le  hierarchy  was 
established  they  were  relegated  to  the  mystic 
decoration  of  the  vestments  of  the  priests,  and 
the  manner  of  their  employment  was  suppressed 
from  common  knov/ledge  and  finally  forgotten. 
Attenuated  rudiments  of  a  half-idolatrous  past 
were  wrought  into  the  externals  of  the  temple 
worship,  which,  it  must  be  remembered,  was  first 
established  long  before  the  detailed  descriptions 
were  made  of  its  imaginary  germs  in  the  appur- 
tenances of  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant  during  the  so- 
journ in  the  wilderness.  Moses  and  Aaron  and 
the  Levites,  as  they  appear  there,  were  the  progeny 
and  not  the  progenitors  of  the  temple  priesthood. 


XI 

THE   CHILDHOOD   OF   THE  NATION 

After  the  clans  of  Israel  were  distributed  and 
settled  in  the  conquered  land,  without  systematic 
government  or  formal  union  of  any  kind,  the  ex- 
igencies forced  upon  them  by  aggressive  enemies 
or  internal  disorders  were  met  for  a  long  period  by 
a  series  of  leaders,  evolved  by  circumstances  and 
called  sofetim,  a  term  of  which  the  sense  is  im- 
perfectly conveyed  in  the  familiar  Avord  "  judges." 
Their  rule  was  not  general,  but  local  and  partial, 
according  to  the  requirements  of  the  situation, 
and  the  line  of  such  rulers  was  not  continuous. 
Their  selection  came  about  through  their  own  as- 
sertion of  their  ability  and  force  of  character, 
and  the  popular  recognition  of  their  capacity  for 
leadership  in  an  emergency  ;  but  perhaps  at  the 
time,  and  certainly  afterward,  their  authority  was 
generally  attributed  to  the  choice  of  Jehovah. 
They  were  in  effect  dictators,  who  Avere  looked  to 
for  counsel  in  time  of  trouble  and  for  guidance 
and  command  in  war,  and  once  accepted  they  held 


56  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

a  certain  sway  while  tliey  lived,  but  did  not  trans- 
mit authority  to  any  successor. 

In  the  fragments  of  epic  material  preserved  in  the 
Book  of  Judges  a  disconnected  series  of  events 
and  exploits  can  be  traced  which  fully  illustrate  this 
stage  in  the  life  of  Israel.  There  were  periodical 
troubles  on  all  the  borders  of  the  land.  At  one 
time  an  invading  king  from  Mesopotamia  op- 
pressed the  people  and  they  were  delivered  by  a 
leader  named  Othniel.  Again  the  Moabites  over- 
ran a  part  of  the  territory  and  brought  it  into 
subjection,  and  a  daring  Benjaminite,  named  Ehud, 
made  his  way  to  the  head-quarters  of  tlieir  fat  king 
and  assassinated  him,  and  then  rallied  the  people 
to  the  fords  of  the  Jordan  and  expelled  the  in- 
vaders with  the  customary  slaughter.  The  next 
serious  affair  recorded  is  the  coming  of  a  formi- 
dable Canaanite  "  king  "  from  the  far  north,  Jabin 
of  Hazor,  with  his  great  captain,  Sisera,  when  the 
leader  that  rose  in  Israel  was  a  woman. 

Deborah  is  interesting  not  only  as  a  heroic 
leader  of  the  people  in  this  emergency,  but  as  the 
first  that  appears  in  the  record  as  exercising  the 
function  of  prophecy,  wdiich  had  such  an  im- 
portant development  in  later  times.  Slie  appears 
as  dwelling  under  a  palm-tree  in  the  hill  country, 
where  she  was  resorted  to  as  a  gifted  seer,  and 
the  keeper  of  the  oracles  of  Jehovah.     It  was  she 


THE  CHILDHOOD   OF  THE  NAT  TO  X  57 

that  called  forth  Barak  as  a  military  leader  and 
aroused  the  people  against  the  terrible  array  of 
Sisera  and  his  chariots,  and  discomfited  the  hosts 
of  Jabin.  Tlie  victory  was  sealed  by  the  shrev>  d 
and  resolute  treachery  of  Jael,  with  a  tent-pin 
driven  into  the  temple  of  the  sleeping  Sisera. 
Deborah's  song  of  triumph,  somewhat  corrupted 
in  oral  transmission  and  subsequent  copying,  is 
perhaps  the  oldest  specimen  we  have  of  the  litera- 
ture of  Israel's  heroic  age. 

The  country  suffered  much  from  predatory  raids 
of  Midianites  and  Amalekites,  until  Gideon,  of  the 
family  of  Abiezer,  in  Manasseh,  rose  as  a  leader 
and  deliverer  of  the  people.  His  original  name  of 
Jerubbaal  indicates  that  the  family  Avas  addicted 
to  the  worship  of  Baal,  ^^•hile  that  of  his  son, 
Abimelech,  is  suggestive  of  the  cult  of  Moloch; 
but  with  his  assumption  of  leadership  and  a  new 
name,  Gideon  accepted  to  the  full  the  authority  of 
Israel's  God,  Jehovah.  The  account  of  his  skill 
and  prowess  in  rallying  the  forces  of  the  northern 
tribes  and  driving  out  the  plundering  bands  that 
overran  the  country  is  full  of  quaint  incidents  and 
touches  of  poetic  legend.  The  spoils  of  his  pursuit 
and  slaughter  of  the  Midianites  beyond  the  Jordan 
excited  the  cupidity  and  jealousy  of  Ephraim,  who 
was  not  summoned  to  help  him  at  tlie  beginning 
of  the  cami^aign,  and  did  not  gc^t  a  share  of  the 


58  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

booty;  but  Epliraim  was  soothed  by  diplomatic 
flattery.  There  is  in  the  story  a  confusion  of  the 
names  of  persons  and  places  quite  characteristic  of 
those  ancient  annals.  Gideon's  great  exploit  seems 
to  have  excited  the  first  impulse  in  Israel  for  set- 
ting up  a  king,  but  he  preferred  the  security,  rev- 
erence, and  profit  of  setting  up  an  oracle  to  the 
risks  of  prematm-e  sovereignty.  But  the  ambition 
which  Gideon  was  shrewd  enough  to  resist  or  to 
avoid  broke  out  in  his  illegitimate  son,  Abimelech, 
who  hatched  a  plot  for  setting  up  royalty  at  She- 
chem,  with  disastrous  consequences  to  himself. 

The  people  to  the  east  of  the  Jordan,  the  Ma- 
chirite  branch  of  Manasseh,  and  the  Gadites  and 
Keubenites,  had  little  in  common  Avith  the  rest  of 
Israel,  and  were  already  regarded  almost  as  aliens, 
but  when  they  were  harried  and  overrun  by  the 
Ammonites  they  remembered  their  claim  to  the 
protection  of  Jehovah,  and  their  share  in  the  her- 
itage of  his  people.  Out  of  their  struggles  rose 
one  of  the  most  famous  of  the  "  judges,"  whose 
story,  told  with  the  color  of  a  later  time,  is  one  of 
the  epic  passages  in  their  history.  There  is  the 
common  confusion  of  the  names  of  persons  and 
places  in  the  representation  of  the  hero  of  Gilead 
as  the  son  of  Gilead,  and  it  is  in  accordance  with 
many  a  popular  fancy  that  the  hero  of  the  time 
should  be  a  bastard   and   an   outlaw.     Jephthah 


THE  CHILDHOOD   OF  THE  NATION 


59 


must  have  been  a  vigorous  and  capable  chieftain. 
After  being  driven  from  Gilead  by  his  family,  he 
became  a  brigand  of  such  prowess  that  when  a 
military  leader  was  needed  for  deliverance  from 
the  Ammonites,  the  people  were  fain  to  call  him 
to  the  rescue. 

He  proved  a  bold  and  successful  warrior,  and 
lashed  the  Ammonites  through  the  land,  driving 
them  from  its  borders  with  "great  slaughter,"  and 
when  the  men  of  Ephraim,  whose  jealousy  was  again 
aroused,  undertook  to  chastise  him  for  not  giving 
them  a  share  in  the  campaign  and  its  victories,  he 
turned  upon  them,  and  not  only  drove  them  back 
to  their  hills,  but  apparently  brought  them  into 
subjection  to  his  own  authority,  for  he  is  said  to 
have  "  judged  Israel  six  years."  It  is  impossible, 
however,  to  determine  how  far  his  sway  extended. 
It  was  a  part  of  the  "  system  "  of  the  compilers  of 
the  record  in  after  times  to  represent  Jephthah  as 
the  servant  and  instrument  of  Jehovah  in  rescuing 
his  people  after  they  had  been  punished  by  their 
enemies  for  their  recreancy.  But  Jephthah's  re- 
ligious character  is  left  dubious,  notwithstanding 
the  statement  put  in  the  mouths  of  his  messengers 
to  the  king  of  Amnion  regarding  the  basis  of  Is- 
rael's claim  to  the  land  from  the  Arnon  to  the  Jab- 
bok  ;  and  his  vow  and  the  human  sacrifice  which 
it  involved  savor  more  of  Baal  and  Moloch  than 


60  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

of  Jehovah.  No  doubt  he  accepted  the  God  of  Is- 
rael as  he  understood  him,  and  worshipped  hira 
according  to  his  lights,  but  there  was  everywhere 
at  that  time  a  strong  tendency  to  degrade  him  to 
the  level  of  the  other  deities.  There  is  an  essen- 
tial truth  in  the  representation  that  this  was  a 
grievous  offence  of  the  people,  and  the  chief  source 
of  their  weakness  in  contending  with  their  ene- 
mies. 

A  semblance  of  continuity  in  the  line  of 
"  judges  "  is  produced  by  a  rather  barren  enumer- 
ation of  those  who  rose  here  and  there,  and  from 
time  to  time,  and  disappeared  without  leaving  any 
enduring  trace.  The  constant  irritation  and  con- 
flict on  the  Philistine  border  gave  rise  to  many 
episodes  and  exploits,  and  out  of  some  of  their  in- 
cidents was  constructed  one  of  the  most  curious 
legends  of  this  primitive  stage  of  the  national  life. 
Nothing  is  more  attractive  to  children  in  their 
physical  weakness  than  stories  of  giants,  or  of  per- 
sons of  tremendous  strength,  and  every  nation  in 
its  childhood  has  had  its  tales  of  heroes  of  great 
stature  and  enormous  might.  Whatever  basis  of 
fact  there  may  have  been  for  the  legend  of  the 
crafty  and  daring,  the  morally  equivocal,  but 
physically  powerful  Danite  hero,  Samson,  it  was 
evidently  wrought  with  many  threads  of  inyth. 
and   romance,  for   it  is  by  no  means  congruous 


THE  CHILDHOOD   OF  THE  N ATI  OX  61 

with  its  setting.  Sun-worship  and  its  symbols 
were  not  unknown  on  the  Phoenician  border. 
In  the  old  Babylonian  mjtholog;y  there  was  a 
prototype  of  Hercules,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
traditions  of  the  Hellenic  demi-god  himself  existed 
among  the  Philistines,  who  were  akin  to  the 
Greeks  in  origin. 

Three  distinct  tendencies  are  noticeable  in  the 
annals  of  primitive  society.  Warlike  heroes  and 
bold  adventurers  are  apt  to  be,  or  are  represented 
as  being,  illegitimate  sous  of  noble  sires.  Super- 
natural paternity  is  attributed  to  persons  who  be- 
come deified  in  the  popular  mind,  and  those  who 
are  held  in  highest  esteem  as  great  leaders  or 
teachers  are  often  said  to  have  been  the  offspring 
by  divine  favor  of  mature  mothers  previously  bar- 
ren. Wlien  the  popular  tales  of  Samson's  exploits 
in  conflict  with  the  Philistines,  liis  crafty  devices 
and  feats  of  strength,  the  wiles  which  he  practised 
and  of  which  he  became  a  victim,  through  his  Her- 
culean weakness  for  women,  came  to  be  woven  into 
the  fabric  of  Israel's  liistory,  threads  and  colors 
from  the  sun  myth  w^ere  left  clearly  visible.  The 
hero's  character  was  dignified  in  the  later  record 
by  a  divine  interposition  in  his  maternity,  by  being 
devoted  as  a  "Nazarite  unto  God"  from  infancy, 
and  by  being  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  "  eJudge  of  Is- 
rael."    While  there  is  an  almost  grotesque  incoii- 


63  THE  JEWISH  SCRrPTURES 

gruity  in  the  blending  of  the  elements  that  form 
the  consecrated  legend,  it  is  done  with  that  Se- 
mitic simplicity  and  semblance  of  a  plain  narrative 
of  fact  which  so  long  deterred  critical  analysis. 

The  episode  of  Micah  and  his  oracle,  to  which  we 
have  already  made  a  passing  allusion,  is  mainly  in- 
teresting and  significant  as  illustrating  the  charac- 
ter of  the  worship  of  the  time  and  the  function  of 
the  Levite  in  its  germ.  The  story  is  much  older 
than  the  account  of  the  origin  of  the  priesthood  in 
Aaron  and  his  sons,  and  the  creation  of  the  tribe 
of  Levi  as  one  of  the  offspring  of  Jacob.  The 
hireling  of  the  oracle  of  Jehovah,  deriving  his  name 
and  office  from  memories  of  Egypt,  Avas  the  real 
father  of  "  the  priest,  the  Levite."  The  appropri- 
ation of  Micah's  graven  images,  epliod,  and  priest, 
by  a  migrating  band  of  Danites,  and  the  setting  up 
of  the  paraphernalia  of  divination  at  Laish,  are 
made  to  overshadow  in  the  record  the  other  inci- 
dents of  the  migration.  But  there  was  the  usual 
seizure  of  coveted  places,  and  the  ruthless  slaugh- 
ter and  plunder  of  the  previous  occupants,  which 
always  characterized  the  conquests  of  the  time. 

As  the  episode  of  Micah  and  the  Danites  illus- 
trates the  state  of  religion,  that  of  the  Levite  of 
Ephraim  and  his  concubine  of  Bethlehem-Judah, 
illustrates  the  mor  il  condition  in  the  time  of  the 
"judges."     The    outrage  at   Gibeah   reminds  one 


THE   CHILDHOOD    OF  THE  NATION  G3 

of  the  morals  of  Sodom  iii  the  time  of  Lot,  but 
the  two  stories  are  of  about  the  same  age  and 
based  uj^ou  the  manners  prevailing  at  the  time 
they  were  told.  The  fact  that  the  other  tribes 
were  rallied  against  Benjamin  to  avenge  the  wrong 
upon  the  poor  Levite  shows  that  it  was  regarded 
with  abhorrence  elsewhere  in  Israel.  The  same 
thing  was  indicated  in  the  vow  at  Mizpah  that 
there  should  be  no  more  intermarrying  with  the 
iniquitous  Benjaminites.  The  war  upon  Benjamin 
stopped  short  of  extermination,  that  a  tribe  of 
Israel  might  not  be  "  cut  off,"  and  the  perpetu- 
ation of  the  tribe  was  further  guaranteed  by  bar- 
barous devices  for  furnishing  wives  to  its  wiU'riors 
without  violating  the  rash  vow  against  giving  them 
daughters  of  other  tribes.  The  people  of  Jabesh- 
Gilead,  having  no  part  in  that  inviolable  vow,  had 
to  be  slaughtered  that  the  virgins  of  their  city 
might  be  captured  as  wives  for  Benjamin,  and,  the 
supply  being  insufficient,  advantage  was  taken  of 
the  feast  of  the  Lord  at  Shiloh  to  seize  the  maidens 
who  came  out  to  dance.  So  was  the  inheritance 
of  Benjamin  restored  and  Israel  was  again  at 
peace,  in  the  days  when  "  there  Avas  no  king  and 
every  man  did  that  which  was  right  in  his  own 
eyes."  They  were  days  when  Israel  gave  little 
promise  of  fulfilling  the  high  destiny  that  awaited 
her. 


XII 

SETTING  UP  A  KINGDOM 

As  the  people  of  Israel  multiplied  and  their  as- 
cendency over  the  subjugated  races  increased,  the 
tribes  grew  closer  together,  and  the  national  spirit 
gradually  developed.  This  Avas  especially  the  case 
in  that  central  region  which  included,  at  no  great 
distance  from  each  other,  the  places  about  which 
the  traditions  of  the  people  clustered — Hebron, 
Bethel,  Shiloh,  and  Shechem.  The  need  of  a 
closer  union  for  purposes  of  defence  was  felt  more 
and  more.  There  were  periodical  attacks  from  the 
Ammonites  on  the  eastern  border,  and  constant  raids 
from  the  plundering  Amalekites  of  the  south. 
The  ever-hostile  and  aggressive  Philistines  on  the 
west  were  a  constant  provocation  to  the  consolida- 
tion of  the  tribes  for  defensive  warfare.  Though 
Philistia  was  a  small,  and  not  a  populous  country, 
its  superior  civil  and  military  organization  made 
it  almost  always  victorious  in  its  attacks. 

For  a  long  time  no  warlike  leader  rose  in  Israel, 
and  the  people  began  to  plead  for  a  "  king  "  who 
should  lead  them  to  battle  against  their  enemies. 


sETxma  UP  A  kingdom:  65 

Tlieir  only  "  jndge  ''  seems  to  have  been  tlie  priest 
at  Sliiloh,  where  the  "  ark  of  the  Lord  "  had  found 
its  resting-place,  and  whither  the  people  made  pil- 
grimages to  offer  sacrifices  to  Jehovah.  The  ex- 
periment  of  relying  upon  their  God  alone,  and  car- 
rying the  ark  which  he  was  supposed  to  inhabit  at 
the  head  of  their  little  army,  to  strike  terror  into 
the  Philistines,  proved  disastrous.  The  ark  was 
captured  and  carried  away,  to  the  consternation  of 
the  confiding  people.  A  pious  tradition  grew  up 
that,  like  the  arrows  of  Apollo,  it  carried  pestilence 
into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy,  who  were  driven  by 
their  calamities  to  send  it  back  with  placatory 
offerings  symbolic  of  their  sufferings.  It  proved 
to  be  as  deadly  to  those  who  looked  upon  it  at 
Beth-shean  as  it  had  been  at  Ashdod,  but  it  lost 
its  virulence  in  the  keeping  of  a  sanctified  priest 
at  Kiriath-jearim.  But  this  exiDerience  showed 
more  and  more  the  need  of  some  valiant  warrior  as 
a  leader. 

An  interesting  incident  of  this  period  is  the  first 
appearance  of  the  "  prophet,"  in  the  later  sense  of 
the  term,  with  a  distinct  political  function,  though 
Deborah  was  a  forerunner  of  this  character.  The 
story  of  Samuel,  as  we  have  it,  is  made  up  of 
two  diverse  accounts,  imperfectly  blended,  which 
show  him  in  two  distinct  aspects.  The  more  at- 
tractive appears  in  the  older  material,  which  is 
5 


66  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

also  more  historical,  though  woven  with  the  usual 
legendary  elements,  such  as  those  relating  to  his 
birth  and  his  dedication  in  infancy  to  the  little 
sanctuary  at  Shiloli.  The  Jehovism  of  the  time 
shows  little  improvement,  as  indicated  in  the 
scandals  of  the  sons  of  Eli,  the  superstitious  reli- 
ance upon  a  kind  of  sacred  sorcery,  and  the  lack 
of  moral  elevation.  There  seems  to  have  been 
conventicles  of  "prophets,"  whose  practice  of 
working  themselves  into  a  convulsive  state  of  en- 
thusiasm by  music  and  dances  has  had  its  coun- 
terpart ever  since  in  Oriental  lands. 

Samuel  appears  to  have  been  resorted  to  as  a 
seer,  and  an  oracle,  and  he  differed  from  others  of 
his  class  only  in  greater  sagacity  and  higher 
character,  which  led  to  the  prominent  part  taken 
by  him  in  establishing  the  kingdom  under  Saul. 
Of  this  part  traces  of  two  inconsistent  accounts 
are  left  in  the  record.  That  which  represents 
him  as  averse  to  complj-ing  with  the  popular  wish 
for  a  king,  and  Jehovah  as  acquiescing  with  re- 
luctance, was  imposed  by  the  compiler  after  the 
theocratic  idea  of  a  later  time  had  developed, 
when  there  was  a  strong  reaction  toward  the  ideals 
of  the  pastoral  age  and  a  complete  reliance  upon 
the  God  of  Israel.  The  real  political  and  religious 
activity  of  the  time  was  limited  to  a  small  area,  of 
which   Gibeah   may   be   regarded  as   the   centre. 


SETTING    UP  A  KINO  DO  AT  67 

Benjamin  was  small,  but  was  the  chief  repository 
of  the  warlike  spirit,  and  it  was  the  natural  place 
in  which  to  look  for  a  military  leader.  Shiloh 
was  not  many  miles  from  Gibeah,  while  Ramah, 
the  residence  of  the  great  seer,  was  close  by 
on  the  north,  and  the  height  of  Mizpah,  a  popu- 
lar rallying-place,  was  equally  close  on  the  south. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  during  the  agitation 
for  a  king,  Samuel  saw  a  likely  candidate  in  the 
stalwart  son  of  Kish,  who  was  familiar  to  the 
fraternity  of  prophets. 


XIII 
THE   FIKST   KING 

No  authentic  details  could  be  drawn  from  the 
conflicting  statements  of  the  record,  even  if  its 
material  had  a  historic  quality,  but  it  is  known 
that  Saul  became  the  first  king  of  Israel,  and  it 
was  undoubtedly  due  to  his  physical  stature  and 
prowess,  and  his  fitness  for  military  leadership. 
AVhether  Samuel  sought  him  out  or  took  advantage 
of  his  coming  to  consult  the  oracle  about  tlie 
whereabouts  of  stray  asses,  and  anointed  him  be- 
forehand as  the  coming  monarch;  whether  the 
prophet  called  the  people  together  at  Mizpah  and 
there  presented  their  king,  who  modestly  tried  to 
evade  the  honor ;  or  whether  Saul  was  invested 
with  royalty  at  Gilgal,  after  having  first  displayed 
his  prowess  by  slaughter  of  the  Ammonite  as- 
sailants of  Jabesh-Gilead,  and  as  the  result  of 
popular  acclaim  for  a  new  hero,  does  not  matter. 
Saul  became  the  king,  and  the  prophet  was  no 
doubt  instrumental  in  making  him  the  king. 

It  is  difficult  for  us  to  adapt  our  ideas  to  the 
real  proportions  of  these  events,  viewed  across  the 


THE  FIRST  KING  69 

intervening  tract  of  human  history,  and  through 
the  haze  which  religious  faith  has  thrown  over 
them  in  the  varying  course  of  thirty  centuries. 
It  was  a  primitive  time  in  a  primitive  land,  a  land 
neither  extensive  nor  populous,  with  a  mixture  of 
inhabitants  of  differ ent  origin,  the  dominant  people 
being  of  various  tribes  loosely  associated.  There 
was  no  systematic  government,  and  Saul's  author- 
ity was  little  different  in  kind,  and  not  much 
greater  in  extent,  than  that  of  Jephthah  or  Gideon. 
Koyalty  was  nominally  established,  and  the  title 
of  king  was  adopted,  but  Saul  w^as  essentially  a 
military  chieftain.  His  sway  was  acknowledged 
by  the  tribes,  but  was  effective  only  so  far  as  he 
might  assert  and  maintain  it. 

From  the  two  inconsistent  documents  irregular- 
ly pieced  together  to  form  the  record  we  now  have, 
with  such  other  help  as  research  has  afforded,  we 
gather  that  the  reign  of  Saul  was  successful  in  its 
earlier  years,  while  he  was  engaged  in  combating 
the  enemies  of  Israel,  but  his  sagacity  was  not  equal 
to  his  heroism,  and  he  was  of  a  vacillating  tem- 
perament. Prone  to  superstition  and  to  consulting 
oracles,  he  still  seems  to  have  been  apt  to  disre- 
gard what  purported  to  be  the  word  of  Jehovah, 
and  thus  to  incur  the  displeasure  of  the  great 
prophet  upon  whom  he  mainly  relied  for  counsel. 
In    his  continual    warfare    with    the    Philistines 


70  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

he  had  the  soldier's  instinct  for  selecting  capable 
warriors  to  lead  in  the  fight,  and  when  he  "  saw 
any  mighty  roan,  or  any  valiant  man,  he  took  him 
imto  him."  Among  the  most  valiant  and  skilful  of 
his  lieutenants  was  his  own  son,  Jonathan. 

No  doubt  there  were  perilous  adventures  and 
strange  incidents  in  the  guerilla  warfare  of  those 
days,  and  it  is  not  remarkable  if  the  accounts,  put 
together  long  after,  are  filled  with  legendary  ele- 
ments. The  later  compiler  diffused  over  them  a 
theocratic  gloss  in  accounting  for  any  significant 
turn  in  events.  Saul  and  Jonathan  were  in  the 
main  successful  in  their  campaigns  against  the  ag- 
gressive Philistines,  and  the  king  is  also  repre- 
sented as  administering  chastisement  to  Amnion, 
Moab,  and  Amalek,  beyond  the  borders  of  his  do- 
minion. Fragments  of  original  material  are  so 
incoherently  mixed  in  the  record  that  no  clear 
statement  of  the  order  of  events  can  be  extracted 
from  them,  and  more  authentic  material  is  lacking, 
but  the  general  significance  of  what  happened  is 
not  difiicult  to  discern. 

Popular  dissatisfaction  with  a  reign  like  that  of 
Saul  was  inevitable,  on  account  of  his  lack  of  the 
arts  of  leadership,  except  in  actual  warfare,  and 
his  want  of  tact  in  dealing  with  men  in  civil  life, 
and  with  the  conditions  about  him.  It  is  not 
a  pleasing  view  of  the  character  of  Samuel,  and  it 


THE  FIRST  KING  71 

is  probably  not  an  authentic  one,  whicli  presents 
him  as  the  head  of  a  plot  for  raising  David  to  the 
throne  in  the  lifetime  of  Saul.  It  comes  from  the 
writers  of  the  Davidic  dynasty  of  Judah,  intent 
upon  sanctifying  its  origin.  Samuel  is  represent- 
ed as  turning  against  Saul,  and  Jehovah  as  repent- 
ing of  having  made  him  king,  because  he  vi^as  not 
sufficiently  ruthless  in  slaughtering  the  Amalekites 
and  destroying  everything  that  came  in  his  way 
in  the  expedition  against  them.  The  venerable 
prophet  is  even  shown  in  the  act  of  hewing  in 
pieces  the  captured  king,  Agag,  with  his  own  hand ; 
and  in  his  mourning  over  the  disobedient  Saul,  he 
sought  out  the  Bethlehemite  son  of  Jesse,  and 
anointed  him  betimes  as  king  over  Israel. 

The  actual  manner  of  David's  first  appearance 
on  the  scene  is  involved  in  obscurity.  His  first 
meeting  with  Saul  is  described  in  two  different 
ways.  The  king  was  subject  to  fits  of  depression, 
bordermg  upon  insanity,  and  could  only  be  soothed 
by  music.  David,  already  answering  to  the  de- 
scription of  a  "mighty  man  of  valor  and  a  man  of 
war,"  as  well  as  prudent  in  speech,  comely  in  per- 
son, and  "  cunning  "  in  playing  the  harp,  was  sent 
for  to  solace  the  king  with  music,  and  became  a 
favorite  attendant.  According  to  the  other  ac- 
count the  king  first  knew  of  David  after  the  battle 
with  the  Philistines  at  which  the  giant  GoHath  was 


73  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

slain.  This  curious  legend  seems  to  be  an  ex- 
ample of  tlie  Hebrew  practice  of  personifying 
events  and  places  and  masses  of  men  when  reduc- 
ing oral  tradition  to  writing.  There  may  have 
been  a  Philistine  warrior  of  gigantic  stature,  knov/n 
as  Goliath,  whose  huge  sword  was  kept  as  a  tro- 
phy, but  it  is  likely  that  the  defeat  of  a  large 
body  of  Philistines  by  a  smaller  body  of  Israel- 
ites, under  this  "  mighty  man  of  valor  "  from  Beth- 
lehem, was  the  source  of  the  story  of  the  mailed 
giant  of  Gath,  slain  by  a  stripling  slinger  of  Judah 
with  pebbles  from  the  brook. 

This  view  may  be  supported  by  the  fragment  of 
song,  apparently  from  the  "  Jasher  "  and  the  old- 
est words  in  the  record  of  Saul's  reign,  which  rep- 
resents the  women  as  shouting  : 

*'  Saul  hath  slain  his  thousands, 
And  David  his  ten  thousands," 

at  the  time  of  the  victor's  return  from  the  battle. 
David  was  doubtless  one  of  the  mighty  and  val- 
iant men  whom  Saul  had  taken  unto  himself  in  his 
wars,  and  from  his  part  in  that  victory,  and  the 
credit  he  won  by  it,  came  the  beginning  of  the 
King's  jealousy,  and  perhaps  also  of  the  admira- 
tion and  attachment  of  his  son  Jonathan.  At  all 
events,  in  the  valiant  and  adventurous  son  of 
Jesse  appeared  a  figure  which  was  the  very  an- 


THE  FIRST  KING  73 

titliesis  of  tlie  robust  Benjaminite  of  Gibeali. 
David  was  not  merely  valiant  in  war,  but  lie  was 
sagacious,  versatile,  handsome,  and  a  consummate 
master  of  the  art  of  popularity.  As  Saul  lost  pres- 
tige, David  became  the  idol  of  the  people  and  an 
object  of  strong  attachment,  not  only  to  the  king's 
favorite  son,  but  to  his  daughter,  Michal.  "With  his 
disordered  temperament  and  accumulating  troubles, 
it  is  little  wonder  if  Saul's  jealousy  of  his  youthful 
rival,  whom  he  made  his  son-in-law  as  well  as  his 
armor-bearer,  was  sometimes  raging. 


XIV 
DAYID  AS  AN  OUTLAW 

It  does  not  appear  in  the  account  that  David 
ever  plotted  directly  against  his  sovereign,  how- 
ever much  others  may  have  plotted  in  his  behalf, 
and  however  little  he  may  have  sought  to  avoid 
the  popularity  which  his  captivating  personality 
excited.  But  doubtless  the  king  in  his  fits  of  vio- 
lence sought  the  life  of  the  man  who  won  favor  so 
easily  and  so  rajDidly,  while  his  own  prestige  was 
waning,  and  he  seems  to  have  deliberately  con- 
trived to  put  him  in  deadly  peril.  The  "  evil 
spirit"  which  incited  Saul  to  make  personal  at- 
tempts upon  David's  life  was  doubtless  the  spirit 
of  micontrollable  temper,  severely  wrought  upon, 
though  indications  also  appear  of  actual  mental 
derangement.  Michal  and  Jonathan  more  than 
once  saved  the  object  of  their  regard  from  their 
father's  wrath,  and  when  the  danger  became  too 
great  the  prince  aided  in  the  escape  of  the  friend 
who  was  afterward  to  seize  the  inheritance  of  his 
family. 

David  fled  once  to  Samuel  and  his  coterie  of 


DAVID  AS  AN  OUTLAW  75 

young  "  prophets  "  at  Kamali,  and  ventured  to  re- 
turn, only  to  find  the  king  more  than  ever  in- 
censed. He  next  took  refuge  with  a  priest  at 
Nob,  where  the  "  sword  of  Goliath  "  seems  to  have 
been  deposited  as  a  trophy ;  but  finding  that  his 
whereabouts  was  known  to  a  treacherous  Edomite 
servant  of  Saul,  he  betook  himself  boldly  to  the 
chief  enemy  of  his  country,  the  Philistine  king,  at 
Gath.  But  he  was  known  there  as  a  formidable 
warrior  from  whom  the  Philistines  had  suffered, 
and  he  had  to  feign  madness  in  order  to  escape 
with  his  life.  We  may  as  well  follow  the  recorded 
events  from  this  point  without  inquiring  too  closely 
as  to  what  is  tradition  and  what  authentic  history, 
since  there  is  no  means  of  ascertaining,  and  it  is 
not  unlikely  that  the  substance  of  the  record  was 
derived  from  David's  own  reminiscences  in  his 
later  days. 

Haying  escaped  from  Gath  he  placed  his  father's 
family  in  safety  in  Moab,  the  reputed  home  of  his 
grandfather's  maternal  ancestors,  and  himself  took 
refuge  in  a  cave  among  the  hills  of  Judah,  whither 
the  disaffected  and  lawless  of  the  kingdom  resorted 
to  him,  and  became  under  his  leadership  a  band  of 
outlaws  and  bandits.  The  term  seems  harsh,  but 
it  is  a  mere  fact  that  for  some  time  David  led  the 
life  of  a  brigand  chief,  and  was  regarded  by  Saul 
as  a  public  enemy  and  a  dangerous  conspirator, 


76  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

not  altogether  without  reason.  The  king  inflicted 
a  merciless  penalty  upon  the  priests  of  Nob  for 
having  harbored  the  outlaw,  and  when  David  and 
his  band  made  a  bold  foray  to  rescue  Keilah  from 
the  Philistines  they  narrowly  escaped  the  ven- 
geance of  Saul,  who  prepared  to  capture  them  at 
that  place.  Ee turning  to  the  strongholds  of  the 
mountains  and  the  fastnesses  of  the  wilderness  of 
Ziph,  the  chieftain  kept  up  communication  with 
Jonathan,  from  whom  he  received  warning  when  in 
danger  of  pursuit.  There  are  two  stories  of  the 
king  being  in  David's  power  and  having  his  life 
spared.  Certainly  the  outlaw  was  too  shrewd  a 
man  to  force  his  cause  by  any  deed  of  violence 
asrainst  the  *'  Lord's  anointed,"  and  he  bided  the 
time  when  he  could  bring  the  people  to  his  sup- 
port without  the  domestic  broils  and  bloodshed 
that  would  have  made  his  tenure  of  power  uncer- 
tain. His  magnanimity  is  represented  as  having 
disarmed  the  ill-will  of  Saul,  but  neither  prudence 
nor  policy  dictated  compliance  with  the  king's  ad- 
vances for  a  return  to  favor. 

David  appears  in  anything  but  a  pleasing  light 
in  the  episode  of  the  rich  Carmelite,  from  whom 
he  proposed  to  extort  spoil  on  the  plea  that  he 
had  previously  refrained  from  plundering  him,  and 
whose  widow  he  took  as  a  "  wife  "  after  she  had 
exhibited  the  tact  and  complacency  of  which  the 


DAVID  AS  AN  OUTLAW  77 

clinrlisli  Nabal  was  incapable,  that  person  having 
conveniently  died  of  chagrin. 

To  escape  from  the  perils  and  uncertainties  of 
brigandage  within  the  dominion  of  Saul,  and  to 
avoid  the  constant  danger  of  capture,  David  finally 
betook  himself  again  to  the  king  of  Gath,  having 
this  time  a  formidable  band  of  warriors  at  his  com- 
mand, and  two  alien  women  as  "  wives."  He 
induced  the  Philistine  monarch  to  turn  over  the 
town  of  Ziklag  to  him,  and  thence  he  made  plun- 
dering raids  in  various  directions.  When  he 
slaughtered  and  spoiled  the  friends  of  his  bene- 
factor he  pretended  to  have  been  committing  out- 
rages upon  his  own  country.  He  set  out  to 
accompany  King  Achish  on  one  of  his  campaigns 
against  Israel,  but  being  distrusted  he  was  sent 
back,  only  to  find  that  the  Amalekites  had  plun- 
dered Ziklag,  made  captives  of  the  women  and  chil- 
dren, and  set  fire  to  the  town. 

The  pursuit  and  slaughter  and  the  captui'e  of 
spoils  from  the  predatory  tribe  are  chiefly  interest- 
ing from  the  use  made  of  the  plunder.  David's 
sending  presents  about  to  towns  in  Judah  shows 
that  he  was  not  neglectful  of  his  opportunities  for 
gaining  favor,  but  had  his  eye  upon  the  power  to 
which  Samuel  was  reputed  to  have  consecrated 
him  while  he  was  yet  keeping  his  father's  flocks. 

The  expedition  of  the  Philistines,  from  which 


78  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

David  had  been  induced  to  turn  back,  lest  he 
prove  a  traitor,  resulted  disastrously  to  Saul,  who 
was  in  desperate  straits  since  he  had  lost  the  coun- 
sel of  the  prophet  of  Eamah.  The  king  needed 
a  wiser  head  than  his  own  at  any  time,  but  his  in- 
firmities had  now  grown  upon  him.  He  consulted 
the  oracle  by  the  peculiar  divination  of  the  Ephod, 
he  resorted  to  sorcery  and  witchcraft,  and  was  at 
his  wit's  end.  The  story  of  the  witch  of  Endor 
throws  a  lurid  light  upon  the  superstition  of  the 
time.  The  hard  fact  is  that  the  Philistines  were 
victorious,  Saul  and  Jonathan  were  killed,  and 
David  found  the  throne  of  Israel  within  his  reach 
at  last. 


XV. 

A  DYNASTY  ESTABLISHED 

With  the  establishment  of  the  Daviclic  dynasty 
we  can  for  the  first  time  reach  an  approximate 
date  in  the  history  of  Israel.  The  fixing  of  the 
seat  of  power  at  Jerusalem  was  not  far  from  1025 
B.C.,  and  the  events  Avhich  led  up  to  it  were  nearly 
concurrent  with  the  opening  of  the  heroic  age  of 
Aryan  history,  when  the  material  was  supplied  for 
the  epic  poetry  of  Greece. 

David  was  still  at  Ziklag  when  he  heard  of  the 
defeat  of  Saul  at  Mount  Gilboa,  and  of  the  death 
of  the  king  and  three  of  his  sons.  The  compiler 
of  the  annals  does  not  scruple  to  represent  him  as 
barbarously  slaying  the  messenger  who  brought 
the  news,  though  the  excuse  given  does  not  agree 
with  the  statement  of  the  manner  of  Saul's  death, 
which  was  by  his  own  hand,  and  not  that  of  the 
luckless  bearer  of  evil  tidings.  David's  mourning 
for  Saul  and  Jonathan  may  have  been  sincere,  but 
it  did  not  prevent  his  taking  prompt  advantage  of 
a  situation  which  he  had  shrewdly  helped  to  bring 
about.     He  went  through  the  form  of  getting  from 


80  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

the  Ephod  a  confirmation  of  liis  purpose  to  pro- 
ceed to  Hebron  and  set  himself  np  as  king  oyer 
his  own  tribe  of  Judah,  whose  favor  he  had  lost  no 
opportunity  of  winning. 

The  line  of  division  between  Judah  and  Eph- 
raim  had  always  been  clearly  marked,  and  to  these 
two  the  other  tribes  were  subordinate.  It  required 
all  the  sagacity  of  which  David  was  master  to 
bring  about  the  consolidation  of  the  monarchy. 
Abner,  Saul's  chief  military  commander,  made  haste 
to  set  up  the  dead  king's  surviving  son,  Ishbosh- 
eth,  or  more  properly  Ish-baal,  in  his  stead,  taking 
him  beyond  Jordan  to  Mahanaim  for  the  purpose. 
David's  chief  man  of  war  was  Joab,  a  member  of 
his  own  family,  and  to  him  was  chiefly  left  the 
conduct  of  the  contest  with  the  house  of  Saul. 
There  are  curious  Homeric  incidents  in  the  ac- 
count of  the  conflicts  between  the  two  military 
chieftains,  into  which  a  personal  feud  entered. 
Abner,  getting  into  a  quarrel  with  his  king  over  a 
concubine,  undertook  to  betray  the  realm  into  the 
hands  of  David.  The  latter  entertained  the  propo- 
sition on  condition  of  getting  back  his  first  wife, 
Michal,  now  married  to  another,  but  Joab,  sus- 
picious of  Abner  and  bitterly  hostile  to  him,  found 
occasion  to  put  him  out  of  the  way.  David  osten- 
tatiously condemned  the  deed  and  mourned  for 
Abner,  but  he  did  not  fail  to  retain  the  services  of 


A  DYNASTY  ESTABLISHED  81 

liis  bold  and  bloody  warrior.  Two  of  Isliboslietli's 
captains,  thinking  to  profit  with  David  by  assas- 
sinating their  master,  received  the  reward  of  trai- 
tors, and  the  king  professed  great  wrath  at  the 
death  of  Saul's  son,  but  he  promptly  made  a 
''covenant"  Avith  his  adherents,  and  became  king 
over  all  Israel. 

As  a  part  of  his  policy  for  uniting  the  nation, 
David  abandoned  Hebron  as  his  capital,  as  being 
closely  identified  with  his  own  tribe,  and  avoided 
choosing  any  place  identified  with  the  rival  tribes. 
The  Jebusites  still  occupied  their  ancient  strong- 
hold on  Mount  Sion,  and  deemed  it  impregnable, 
insomuch  that  there  was  a  proverb  that  it  could  be 
defended  by  the  blind  and  lame.  But  David  seized 
this  neutral  spot,  and  availed  himself  of  the  skill 
of  the  Phoenicians  to  build  his  capital  there,  giving 
to  the  world  its  chief  centre  of  religious  influence 
and  association  for  ages,  though  he  had  little  con- 
ception of  its  destiny,  and  there  he  took  unto  him- 
self more  wives  and  concubines,  after  the  manner 
of  the  monarchs  of  his  time. 

After  repelling  the  first  assault  of  the  Philistines, 
who  undertook  to  test  their  strength  against  the 
new  kingdom,  David  bethought  him  of  bringing 
the  "  Ark  of  God  "  from  its  place  of  repose  in  the 
house  of  Abinadab,  in  order  that  the  dwelling-place 
of  Jehovah  might  be  at  the  new  centre  of  national 


83  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

power.  To  us  there  is  something  grotesque  in  the 
pageants  and  ceremonies  with  which  this  ancient 
shrine  was  transferred,  with  an  untoward  accident 
on  the  way,  to  the  place  where  it  was  really  to  be- 
come the  palladium  of  a  nation's  faith.  But  these 
were  in  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  cal- 
culated to  impress  the  people  as  no  other  form  of 
celebration  could.  The  scorn  of  Michal  was  that 
of  one  who  had  no  appreciation  of  the  value  of  the 
consecration  of  the  nation  to  its  chosen  deity. 
The  story  of  David's  purpose  to  build  a  house  for 
the  Lord  at  this  time,  and  of  his  diversion  from 
this  purpose  by  the  prophet  Nathan,  is  a  later  pro- 
duction, interpolated  in  the  record  as  a  part  of  the 
scheme  of  the  later  chroniclers,  to  give  at  all  points 
a  divine  sanction  to  the  dynasty  of  David,  and  to 
its  perpetuation. 


XVI 

THE  EEIGN   OF  DAVID 

The  reign  of  David  is  represented  as  one  of 
blood  and  conquest  in  its  earlier  years,  and  of  in- 
testine plots  and  intrigues  in  its  later  part.  He  is 
said  to  have  subdued  tlie  Philistines  and  to  have 
inflicted  chastisement  upon  the  neighboring  lands, 
smiting  their  kings  and  exacting  spoils  from  them, 
which  he  "  dedicated  unto  the  Lord."  His  warfare 
was  prosecuted  with  ruthless  cruelty,  from  which 
Moab  was  not  exempt,  though  it  Avas  afterward  re- 
puted to  be  the  land  of  his  grandfather's  maternal 
ancestry,  and  had  been  the  refuge  of  his  family  when 
he  was  an  outlaw.  But  in  none  of  these  conquests 
was  there  any  acquisition  of  territory,  or  final  sub- 
jection of  the  alien  people.  An  attempt  to  es- 
tablish a  friendly  alliance  with  Ammon  met  with 
a  rebuff  and  the  usual  vindictive  consequences. 
Meantime  the  policy  of  placating  the  adherents 
of  the  house  of  Saul,  and  of  guarding  against  plots 
in  that  quarter  was  continued  by  taking  in  direct 
charge  its  principal  heir,  Mephibosheth,  or  Meri- 
baal,  the  crippled  son  of  Jonathan. 


84  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPT UUES 

The  government  of  David  was  in  effect  that  of 
an  absokite  monarch,  whose  will,  tempered  by  dis- 
cretion, was  the  only  law,  and  whose  rule  was 
sustained  by  popular  submission  and  by  military 
force.  The  nucleus  of  his  army  was  made  up  of 
the  warriors  of  his  days  of  brigandage,  including 
a  large  proportion  of  Philistine  soldiers,  and  his 
most  capable  captains,  with  the  exception  of  Joab 
and  his  brothers,  were  of  alien  blood.  The  native 
spirit  of  Israel  was  not  warlike.  The  inevitable 
result  of  the  oriental  practice  of  polygamy  and 
concubinage  was  harem  intrigues  and  division  in 
the  royal  household.  The  latter  part  of  David's 
reign  was  darkened  by  plots,  headed  by  a  son  who 
possessed  many  of  his  own  captivating  qualities, 
and  had  a  strong  hold  upon  his  affections. 

The  story  of  Absalom's  insurrection  and  the 
incidents  connected  with  it  throw  a  strong  light 
upon  the  manners  and  morals  of  the  time.  That 
of  David's  infamous  conduct  in  gaining  possession 
of  the  wife  of  Uriah,  the  Hittite  captain  in  his 
army,  is,  we  are  glad  to  believe,  of  doubtful  authen- 
ticity, but  that  it  should  have  been  retained  in  the 
record,  accounting  for  the  origin  in  the  royal 
family  of  Solomon's  mother,  is  evidence  that  there 
was  no  appreciation  of  the  moral  turpitude  of  the 
conduct  attributed  to  the  king,  even  in  the  later 
time  when  the  record  was  finally  made  up.     The 


THE  REIOX  OF  DA  VID  85 

touches  relating  to  the  death  of  Bath-sheba's  first 
child  and  the  birth  of  Solomon  seem  highlj^  char- 
acteristic of  the  time,  even  including  the  strange 
sense  of  justice  imputed  to  Jehovah.  The  gross 
conceptions  regarding  sexual  relations  which  pre- 
vailed appear  strikingly  in  the  incident  of  Am- 
nion's treatment  of  his  half-sister  and  Absalom's 
full  sister,  Tamar,  in  which  the  deception  and 
force  employed  seem  to  have  constituted  the  of- 
fence, which  was  so  savagely  avenged  by  xlbsalom. 
The  bloody  deed  of  slaying  a  brother  to  avenge  a 
sister's  shame  led  to  Absalom's  alienation  from  his 
father's  house,  and  indirectly  to  the  insurrection 
which  he  afterward  raised  to  gain  his  father's 
throne. 

After  the  yonng  man  had  passed  three  years  in 
exile  ^dth  his  kinsman,  the  king  of  Geshur,  his 
safe  return  was  managed  by  Joab  ;  but  it  was  long 
before  he  could  be  safely  brought  face  to  face  with 
the  king.  As  soon  as  a  reconciliation  seemed  to 
have  been  effected,  the  handsome  prince  began  to 
ply  the  arts  of  popularity  to  win  the  hearts  of  the 
fickle  populace,  and  having  enticed  one  of  his 
father's  chief  counsellors  into  his  j)lot  and  sent 
emissaries  among  the  tribes  whose  loyalty  was 
always  uncertain,  he  withdrew  to  Hebron  to  head 
the  insurrection  under  the  pretence  of  fulfilling  a 
vow  to  Jehovah,  made  in  the  daj^s  of  his  exile. 


86  TEE  JEWISH  SCRTPTUaES 

One  of  tlie  most  pathetic  pictures  in  history  is 
that  of  the  broken-hearted  king  meekly  aban- 
doning his  capital,  and  making  his  way  with  his 
faithful  followers  over  the  hills  and  across  the 
Jordan  to  Mahanaim,  while  his  heartless  but  be- 
loved son  usurped  his  place  by  treachery  and 
violence.  Among  the  most  faithful  of  his  adhe- 
rents were  the  foreign  mercenaries  of  his  little 
national  guard,  who  had  shared  in  all  his  varying 
fortunes,  and  those  most  ready  to  insult  him  in 
his  calamity  were  of  the  family  of  Saul.  The  old 
division  was  never  healed. 

The  struggle  for  overcoming  the  rebellion,  with 
the  resources  of  subtlety  and  craft,  and  the  skil- 
ful use  of  the  little  army  still  at  the  king's  com- 
mand, was  left  in  the  hands  of  the  bold  and 
resourceful  Joab,  and  the  counsellors  who  still 
remained  faithful.  The  stern  old  warrior  knew 
better  than  to  heed  the  pathetic  appeal  to  "  deal 
gently  for  my  sake  with  the  young  man,"  and  he 
effectually  broke  the  rebellion  by  taking  advan- 
tage of  the  3^oung  man's  entanglement  by  the  hair, 
of  which  he  was  so  proud,  to  put  an  end  to  him. 
Again  Joab  angered  the  king  by  doing  him  a 
bloody  service,  and  boldly  taxed  him  with  weak- 
ness when  he  wept  over  his  reprobate  son.  As 
the  men  of  Judah  flocked  back  to  their  allegiance 
and  some  of  the  other  tribes   hastened   to  make 


THE  RETGN  OF  DA  VID  87 

their  peace  with  the  outraged  sovereign,  David 
sought  to  unite  their  forces  by  taking  Absalom's 
chief  captain  to  his  confidence.  This  did  not  pre- 
vent a  rebellious  remnant  of  Israel  from  keeping 
up  the  contest,  and  Joab,  smarting  with  resent- 
ment and  jealousy,  killed  his  newly  found  rival 
Amasa,  and  proceeded  to  crush  the  king's  enemies 
with  his  usual  energy,  thus  maintaining  the  ascen- 
dancy he  had  so  often  imperilled.  In  fact  Joab's 
brutal  qualities  served  David  many  a  good  turn, 
and  relieved  him  of  dangerous  responsibilities, 
and  while  the  king  repudiated  the  rude  warrior's 
bloody  deeds,  he  never  found  it  convenient  or 
safe  in  his  own  lifetime  to  dispense  with  his 
services. 

The  duplicity  with  which  David  dealt  with  his 
domestic  enemies  and  profited  by  the  treacherj^ 
and  boldness  of  others,  without  accepting  the  re- 
sponsibility of  their  acts  with  the  benefit,  is  one 
of  the  darkest  stains  on  his  name  ;  but  it  was  a 
kind  of  policy  exacted  by  expedienc}^  and  common 
to  rulers  of  his  time.  In  the  combination  of 
strong  qualities  in  David's  character  his  faults 
were  on  the  same  scale  as  his  merits.  Without 
this  combination  of  qualities  he  would  probably 
not  have  founded  the  dynasty  which  produced 
such  wonderful  consequences  in  the  world's  his- 
tory.    As  the  house  of  KSaul  never  lost  its  hatred  of 


88  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

the  king  who  had  seized  its  heritage,  so  David 
never  lost  his  suspicion  of  the  survivors  of  that 
house,  and  one  of  the  most  repellent  incidents  of  his 
career  is  the  subterfuge  by  which  he  compassed 
the  death  of  the  sons  of  Eizpah  and  Michal.  Car- 
ing for  the  bones  of  Saul  and  Jonathan  made  no 
amends  for  such  deeds,  but  how  far  it  is  David 
and  how  far  it  is  the  later  historian  that  put  this 
outrage  upon  the  Gibeonites  and  credited  it  to 
"  the  Lord,"  it  is  hard  to  say. 

If  we  penetrate  the  illusion  cast  over  the  an- 
tique record  by  the  later  writers,  and  by  the  gloss 
of  centuries  of  veneration,  we  shall  find  that 
David's  religious  character  was  no  higher  than 
his  moral  standard,  and  that  neither  was  above 
or  beyond  his  race  and  time.  His  conception  of 
Jehovah  was  not  much  different  from  that  preva- 
lent in  the  time  of  the  Judges.  He  consulted  the 
omens  with  the  Ephod,  and  he  made  sacrifices  on 
special  occasions  ;  he  regarded  that  ancient  relic 
of  the  Egyptian  deliverance,  the  Ark  of  the  Cov- 
enant, as  the  dwelling-place  of  God  among  his 
people,  and  he  worshipped  at  times,  after  the 
manner  of  his  age,  with  a  confusion  of  noises  and 
convulsive  saltation.  But  in  the  oldest  record 
there  is  little  of  the  divine  element,  or  of  super- 
natural intervention,  and  nothing  of  the  miracu- 
lous.    The  priestly  compiler   of   the    Chronicles, 


THE  REIGN  OF  DA  VID  S9 

who  hundreds  of  years  later  took  the  life  and  color 
out  of  David's  history,  attributed  to  him  the  work 
of  centuries  in  building  up  the  temple  service,  as 
it  existed  after  the  Captivity,  but  the  account  is 
artificial  and  based  upon  a  long  process  of  develop- 
ment of  which  hardly  the  germ  existed  in  David's 
day.  There  is  no  doubt  that,  with  his  strong  emo- 
tional nature,  David  was  subject  to  great  elevation 
and  depression  of  feeling,  and  he  doubtless  had  a 
genius  for  expression.  It  is  not  improbable  that 
the  lament  over  Saul  and  Jonathan,  much  as  we 
have  it,  was  his  production ;  it  is  certain  that  the 
song  of  deliverance  from  his  enemies  was  not.  A 
few  of  the  older  "psalms"  may  be  David's,  but 
that  is  not  certain,  while  it  is  beyond  doubt  that 
nearly  all  of  the  collection  is  of  later  date. 

Near  the  close  of  David's  reign  there  seems  to 
have  been  a  period  of  famine  and  of  consequent  or 
attendant  "  pestilence,"  which  was,  as  usual,  at- 
tributed to  the  anger  of  Jehovah.  This  wrath  was 
accounted  for  by  the  harmless  and  useful  act  of 
taking  a  census  of  the  people,  which  may  or  may 
not  really  have  been  attempted,  and  the  instiga- 
tion of  that  act  is  ascribed  in  the  earliest  account 
to  "  the  Lord,"  and  in  the  later  version  to  "  Satan." 
In  their  earlier  da3^s  the  Israelites  had  not  suf- 
ficient power  of  computation  to  number  their  lim- 
ited population,  and  the  attempt  was  considered 


90  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

an  offence.  In  later  time  this  calculation  of 
strength  and  resources  was  regarded  as  a  sinful 
failure  to  relj  upon  Jehovah's  arm  rather  than 
upon  numbers.  The  account  of  this  enumeration 
by  Joab,  under  David's  orders,  and  of  its  conse- 
quences, in  which  the  innocent  were  the  sufferers, 
and  of  the  reparation  made  to  the  Lord,  is  inter- 
esting only  for  the  light  it  casts  upon  those  times. 
It  is  a  melancholy  picture,  that  of  the  last  days 
of  the  "man  of  blood"  and  the  man  of  passion, 
cherished  into  warmth  by  the  beautiful  girl  of 
Shunam,  and  surrounded  by  the  intrigues  of  the 
palace  and  the  harem  over  the  succession  to  the 
throne.  Not  less  sad,  after  the  favorite  queen, 
Bath-sheba,  with  the  support  of  Nathan  the  proph- 
et and  Zadok  the  priest,  had  induced  the  aged 
king  to  discountenance  the  hasty  action  of  Adoni- 
jah  and  to  sanction  the  choice  of  Solomon,  is  the 
spectacle  of  his  enjoining  upon  his  son  and  heir 
the  duty  of  inflicting  upon  Joab  a  barbarous  pen- 
alty for  the  deeds  of  violence  he  had  committed  in 
the  service  of  the  king.  It  was  a  death-bed  dark- 
ened with  the  spirit  of  resentment  and  of  ven- 
geance. 


XVII 

THE  GLOEY  OF  SOLOMON 

The  reign  of  Solomon,  from  about  995  to  955 
B.C.,  covered  a  period  of  comparative  peace,  stable 
government,  and  material  development.  The  ac- 
counts of  it  which  we  have  contain  little  or  none 
of  that  fresh  and  original  material,  saturated  with 
the  color  and  spirit  of  the  time,  which  makes  up 
the  substance  of  the  story  of  the  Judges  and  of 
Saul  and  David.  The  earliest  of  these  accounts, 
contained  in  the  Book  of  Kings,  was  ^\Titten  more 
than  four  hundi'ed  years  after  the  time  to  which  it 
relates,  when  the  body  of  statutes  and  ordinances 
attributed  to  Jehovah  "  by  the  mouth  of  Moses  " 
had  been  built  up,  the  ceremonies  of  the  temple 
had  been  organized  and  developed,  the  spirit  of 
Jehovism  had  been  broadly  modified  by  the  great 
prophets,  and  the  theocratic  idea  had  become 
dominant.  There  was  a  body  of  official  records, 
and  a  varied  mass  of  other  material,  written  and 
oral,  at  the  command  of  the  compiler,  which  he 
did  not  wholly  succeed  in  harmonizing,  though  he 
made  it  difficult  to  set  historic  facts  in  a  clear 


02  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

liglit.  What  may  be  called  a  Solomon  legend  had 
grov/n  up,  founded  on  the  reputed  wisdom  and 
magnificence  of  the  king  who  ruled  at  the  height 
of  the  worldly  power  of  Israel ;  and  on  the  other 
hand,  there  were  unfavorable  estimates  of  his  char- 
acter and  achievements,  which  were  not  wholly 
effaced  though  they  emanated  from  unfriendly 
sources.  The  Ephraimite  writers  infused  into  the 
literature  of  the  later  time  a  tinge  of  discredit  to 
the  Davidic  dynasty,  which  was  never  entirely 
purged  out,  and  the  character  and  deeds  of  its 
first  great  rulers  did  not  commend  them  to  the 
sympathy  of  those  stern  puritans  of  the  nation, 
the  prophets. 

The  later  account,  that  of  the  Book  of  Chroni- 
cles, was  written  long  after  the  captivity  and  the 
restoration,  after  the  levitical  sj^stem  and  the 
priesthood  of  the  second  temple  were  fully  estab- 
lished, and  there  is  scarcely  anything  in  it,  that 
can  be  regarded  as  historical,  which  is  not  bor- 
rowed directly  from  the  earlier  one.  Its  evident 
purpose  is  to  conform  the  events  of  the  reigns  of 
David  and  Solomon  to  the  theory  of  the  divine 
origin  and  destiny  of  the  nation,  after  the  calami- 
ties through  which  it  had  passed  for  its  lapses 
from  fidelity  to  Jehovah.  The  point  to  be  kept  in 
mind  is  that  the  Solomon  of  these  books  is  a  Solo- 
mon viewed  by  the  writers,  centuries  after  his  day, 


THE  GLORY  OF  SOLOMOX  93 

through  the  light  of  the  interveniiig  national  ex- 
periences, and  under  the  influence  of  their  religious 
preoccupations. 

Among  the  first  acts  of  the  new  king  was  the 
putting  to  death  of  the  elder  brother  who  had  at- 
tempted to  forestall  him,  and  the  deed  does  not 
appear  in  any  better  light,  because  a  pretext  was 
made  for  it  in  the  fact  that  the  disappointed  prince 
sought  the  Shunammite  maiden,  Abishag,  as  a  con- 
solation for  his  loss.  Joab  had  supported  the  pre- 
tensions of  Adonijah,  and  that,  rather  than  the 
dying  injunction  of  David,  was  the  cause  of  his 
violent  death.  The  priest  Abiathar  was  also  an 
offender  on  the  same  ground,  and  was  banished, 
and  it  did  not  take  long  to  find  occasion  for  put- 
ting the  last  scion  of  the  house  of  Saul  out  of  the 
way,  the  same  who  had  cursed  David  in  his  calam- 
ity and  whose  punishment  the  old  king  on  his 
death-bed  had  committed  to  his  successor.  So 
was  the  kingdom  "established  greatly." 

Out  of  the  tradition  of  Solomon's  great  wisdom 
sprang  the  story  of  the  revelation  in  a  dream  at 
Gibeon,  which  is  interesting  as  an  indication  that 
the  old  form  of  divination  had  gone  out  of  use  ;  but 
it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  word  translated  "wis- 
dom "  means  rather  skill  in  government  in  the  ori- 
ental sense.  This  Solomon  undoubtedly  possessed 
in  a  high  degree,  and  the  time  was  favorable  to  its 


94  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

exercise.  The  nation  for  tlie  first  time  com- 
manded the  respect  of  the  Philistines,  and  it  liad 
a  friendly  compact  with  Phoenicia.  Solomon  also 
strengthened  his  kingdom  by  an  alliance  Avith 
Egypt,  and  married  a  princess  of  its  reigning 
family  as  one  of  his  many  wives.  He  never  actu- 
ally extended  his  own  dominion  beyond  the  limits 
of  Palestine,  the  statements  in  that  regard  being 
unfounded.  Edom  maintained  its  freedom,  Moab 
and  Ammon  were  tributary,  but  not  subject  to  his 
authority,  and  Syria  was  a  formidable  neighbor  be- 
tween him  and  "  the  river."  It  was  not  a  reign  of 
conquest  but  of  secuiity.  The  army  lost  prestige, 
and  a  rude  civil  organization  was  devised,  mainly 
to  collect  revenues  and  carry  on  public  works. 

David  may  have  bequeathed  to  his  son  the  duty 
of  building  a  ''house  for  God,"  but  it  was  an  era 
of  temple  building,  and  a  temple  as  well  as  a 
palace  was  a  necessary  appurtenance  of  a  great 
capital.  The  Egyptian  Queen  may  have  had 
something  to  do  with  inspiring  in  the  king  grand 
ideas  on  this  subject,  while  his  alliance  with  Hiram 
of  Tyre  enabled  him  to  draw  upon  Phoenician  art 
and  skill  for  the  great  works  he  had  in  view. 
Several  years  were  spent  in  the  construction  of  the 
first  temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  of  palaces  and  other 
buildings  required  by  the  growing  sovereignty  of 
Israel.     The  first  thing  to  be  attended  to  was  a 


THE   GLORY  OF  SOLOMON-  93 

sumptuous  residence  for  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh, 
who  was  accustomed  to  hixury,  and  the  king's 
palace  and  the  temple  followed.  There  is  no  more 
authentic  account  of  the  building  of  the  temple 
than  that  of  the  Bible,  with  its  impossible  details. 
The  structure  was  neither  large  nor  imj)ressive, 
though  massive  in  style,  and  apparently  lavish  in 
crude  decoration.  Owing  to  the  Hebrew  lack  of 
originality  and  taste  in  art,  the  architecture  was 
Egyptian,  modified  by  Phoenician  ideas.  Aversion 
to  the  use  of  human  or  animal  forms  in  decora- 
tion, on  account  of  the  incitement  to  idolatry,  led 
to  the  employment  mainly  of  vegetable  and  geo- 
metric designs  in  the  embellishment  of  the  temple, 
the  only  exception  being  the  glorified  sphinxes 
called  cherubim. 

Not  only  the  art  and  skill,  but  much  of  the 
material  for  Solomon's  constructions,  was  derived 
from  the  Tyrian  realm,  and  the  rough  labor  was 
forced  largely  from  the  remnant  of  the  Canaanites, 
who  were  reduced  to  a  condition  of  serfdom.  The 
appliances  of  the  new  sanctuary,  apart  from  the 
interior  abode  of  Jehovah,  w^ere  for  the  gross 
"worship  of  the  time  by  sacrifices,  burnt-ofi*erings, 
and  incense,  and  material  and  w^orkmanship  for 
these  also  w^ere  supplied  mainly  from  Tyre.  Pay- 
ment was  made  in  the  natural  products  of  the 
country,  and  was  a  severe  exaction  upon  the  re- 


96  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

sources  of  the  people.  The  temple  itself  was  an 
appurtenance  of  the  government  rather  than  of  the 
nation,  a  sanctuary  of  the  royal  household  and  not 
of  the  people.  The  king  conducted  the  occasional 
ceremonies  there,  while  the  worship  in  the  "  high 
places  "  continued,  and  it  was  long  after  this  day 
that  Jerusalem  became  the  centre  of  religious 
aspiration,  and  the  temple  an  object  of  popular 
pride  and  reverence.  The  account  of  the  dedica- 
tion is  an  artificial  product  of  a  far  later  time,  into 
which  much  was  introduced  that  belonged  to  the 
developed  system  of  the  temple  ceremonial.  The 
compiler  of  Chronicles  even  infuses  into  it  some- 
thing of  the  ritual  of  the  second  temple,  of  which 
there  Avas  no  conception  in  Solomon's  day.  The 
prayer  attributed  to  the  king  is  utterly  anachron- 
istic, the  language,  sentiments,  and  spirit  being 
those  of  the  time  of  Jeremiah,  whose  history  and 
writings  were  put  into  form  by  the  author  of  the 
Book  of  Kings. 

In  all  this  work,  in  spite  of  forced  labor  and 
heavy  exactions,  Solomon  became  so  indebted  to 
Hiram  as  to  be  compelled  to  transfer  to  him  a 
number  of  towns  in  the  land  of  Galilee,  of  which 
the  Tyrian  king  had  no  high  opinion,  though  the 
later  chronicler  reverses  the  transaction  and  rep- 
resents Hiram  as  the  donor.  But  Solomon  had 
other  dealings  with  his  enterprising  ally,  and  to- 


THE  GLORY  OF  SOLOMON  97 

gather  they  engaged  iu  foreign  traffic  by  way  of 
the  Keel  Sea  to  Ophir  and  Tarshish,  which  appear 
to  correspond  respectively  to  India  and  Spain. 
Considering  how  little  Palestine  produced  for  ex- 
change, the  volume  of  wealth  brought  from  these 
sources,  though  doubtless  exaggerated  in  the  ac- 
count, raises  the  suspicion  that  the  methods  of 
these  expeditions  were  somewhat  piratical.  The 
impression  of  the  wealth  and  abundance  at  Jeru- 
salem is  rather  delusive.  While  parts  of  the  land 
of  Palestine  were  generously  productive,  the  con- 
ditions of  life  were  simple,  and  there  was  little  of 
what  is  now  regarded  as  systematic  industry,  and 
practically  nothing  of  what  we  mean  by  domestic 
trade.  Solomon's  dealings  with  Hiram  were  sub- 
stantially those  of  barter ;  exchange  in  the  modern 
sense  was  unknown,  and  money  was  little  used, 
and  only  by  tale.  The  apparent  plenitude  was 
mainly  that  of  the  royal  household  and  the  court, 
and  the  luxury  of  the  capital  did  not  imply  pros- 
perity, or  even  comfort,  throughout  the  land. 

The  real  Solomon  could  hardly  have  been  a 
devout  person,  and  his  attachment  to  Jehovah  as 
the  national  God  was  somewhat  perfunctory  and 
easy-going.  He  was  tolerant  of  the  religious  pref- 
erences of  those  who  were  attracted  or  stimulated 
by  the  activity  of  his  reign,  and  was  easily  se- 
duced by  the  devotees  of  the  more  sensuous  wor- 


©8  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

ship  of  Moab  and  Amnion,  and  of  Phoenicia, 
especially  by  the  "  strange  women,"  of  whom  he 
was  such  an  easy  victim.  Doubtless  some  of  the 
exaggerations  of  unfriendly  writers  regarding  the 
sensual  and  idolatrous  aspect  of  Solomon's  life 
have  been  retained  in  the  record,  and  his  seraglio 
probably  had  no  such  extent  as  is  there  repre- 
sented. On  the  other  hand,  the  record  accepts  to 
the  utmost  the  legend  that  attributed  to  him  the 
accumulated  wisdom  of  the  centuries  that  followed. 
No  doubt  he  attracted  about  him  the  active  intel- 
lects of  the  time,  the  scholars  and  wits  and  poets, 
such  as  they  were,  and  the  collection  of  national 
proverbs,  completed  long  after,  was  very  likely  be- 
gun in  his  day,  if  not  by  him.  But  in  the  study 
of  science  and  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  there 
was  not  far  to  go.  There  is  no  ground  for  regard- 
ing the  illustrative  episode  of  the  visit  of  the 
Queen  of  Sheba  as  having  any  authenticity,  though 
the  tradition  may  have  been  based  upon  some 
actual  incident.  It  pertains  to  the  legendary 
rather  than  the  historical  Solomon. 


XVIII 
INSURKECTION   AND   SECESSION 

Befoee  tlie  end  of  the  reign  which  became  so 
glorious  in  the  imagination  of  the  race  in  after 
times,  there  was  a  decided  reaction  against  the 
luxurious  and  expensive  dynasty  that  had  been  set 
up  at  Jerusalem.  The  life  of  the  people  away 
from  the  \'icinity  of  the  capital  was  still  half-pas- 
toral, and  they  shared  in  little,  except  the  exac- 
tions, of  Solomon's  glory.  A  spirit  of  discontent 
had  evidently  grown  up.  Those  who  held  to  the 
pristine  conceptions  of  Israel,  and  cherished  the 
germs  of  the  prophetic  spirit  of  a  later  day,  viewed 
with  disfavor  the  growth  of  secular  power.  They 
liked  not  the  alliance  with  Egj^Dt  and  the  gather- 
ing of  horses  and  chariots,  or  the  association  with 
Tyre  and  Sidon,  which  brought  the  tokens  of  pride 
and  grandeur,  and  banished  the  simplicity  of  the 
fathers.  The  pomp  of  the  court,  the  sensual  in- 
dulgence of  the  harem,  the  lapse  into  idolatry, 
which  put  Chemosh  and  Milkom  on  a  level  with 
Jehovah,  set  aglow  the  embers  of  a  religious  revolt. 

The  northern   tribes,  and  especially  the  proud 


100  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

and  spirited  Epliraimites,  had  always  chafed  under 
the  ascendancy  of  Judah.  While  the  energies  of 
the  nation  were  absorbed  in  the  labor  of  construc- 
tion at  Jerusalem,  there  seems  to  have  been  an 
incipient  insurrection  among  the  men  of  Ephraim, 
in  which  a  vigorous  and  ambitious  youth,  known  as 
Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat,  took  the  lead.  Ahijah, 
a  prophet  at  Shiloh,  in  sympathy  with  the  northern 
spirit,  encouraged  him  to  seize  the  sovereignty  of 
that  section,  but  the  time  was  not  yet  ripe.  Solo- 
mon discovered  the  movement  and  Jeroboam  fled 
to  Egypt,  the  usual  refuge  of  political  offenders  in 
tliose  times.  But  when  Solomon  died  and  the 
kingdom  fell  to  his  weak  and  obstinate  son,  the 
half-Ammonite,  Rehoboam,  the  division  betv>^een 
north  and  south  became  complete  and  irreconcil- 
able. Jeroboam  made  haste  out  of  his  exile  to 
take  the  leadership  of  his  people  at  Shechem,  and  to 
demand  a  redress  of  grievances  at  the  hands  of  the 
new  king.  Under  the  advice  of  the  younger  heads 
of  his  court  the  short-sighted  Rehoboam  met  the 
demand  with  defiance  and  threats  of  greater  op- 
pression. The  result  was  that  Jeroboam  became 
king  at  Shechem,  and  the  division  of  Israel  and 
Judah  was  definitely  and  finally  established. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  just  here  an  illustraticm 
of  the  treatment  of  political  changes  by  the  annal- 
ists of  a  later  day.     It  was  natui'al  to  attribute  the 


INSURRECTION  AND  SECESSION  101 

fiiliing  away  from  Solomon  and  his  house  to  the 
kmg's  uiifaithfuhiess  to  the  God  of  Israel,  and  in 
a  sense  it  was  due  to  that ;  but  the  Lord  was  rep- 
resented as  telling  Solomon  that  the  kingdom 
would  be  rent  from  his  son,  all  but  one  tribe, 
which  should  be  retained  for  David's  sake. 
Ahijah  is  also  represented  as  declaring  that  the 
Lord  had  said  that  he  would  rend  the  kingdom 
from  Solomon  and  give  ten  tribes  to  Jeroboam. 
Then,  when  Rehoboam  was  diverted  from  his  rash 
purpose  of  trying  to  subject  the  northern  tribes  to 
his  power  by  force,  it  was  the  Lord  who,  through 
the  prophet  Shemiah  forbade  the  enterprise.  These 
statements  were  part  of  the  "  system  "  of  the  chron- 
iclers in  explaining  all  events  in  the  national  his- 
tory as  the  results  of  Jehovah's  judgments. 

In  following  the  fortunes  of  the  two  kingdoms 
from  this  time  until  one,  and  then  the  other,  dis- 
appeared from  human  history,  Ave  must  remember 
that  the  Avriters  who  have  told  their  story  for  us 
were  of  Judali  only,  and  that  they  told  it  after  the 
tribes  of  Israel  had  been  dispersed,  and  after 
Judali  had  been  through  the  experience  of  defeat 
and  captivity  by  foreign  invaders.  They  regarded 
past  events  from  the  point  of  view  of  their  own 
time,  and  explained  them  according  to  the  concep- 
tion of  theocratic  rule  which  then  prevailed. 


XIX 

THE  TWO  KINGDOMS 

The  great  work  of  Israel,  in  its  broader  sense, 
was  achieved  during  the  period  of  the  kingdoms, 
or  from  about  the  middle  of  the  tenth  to  the  mid- 
dle of  the  sixth  century  B.C.  Intermediate  dates 
in  this  period  are  only  approximately  ascertained. 
The  division  of  the  land  into  two  realms,  after  the 
death  of  Solomon,  occurred,  as  nearly  as  the  date 
can  be  fixed,  in  955  B.C.  The  time  of  the  capture 
of  Samaria  and  the  destruction  of  the  Northern 
Kingdom  by  the  Assj^rians  is  set  down  as  721  B.C., 
giving  a  period  of  234  years  for  the  concurrent 
existence  of  the  two  nations.  The  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  and  the  general  deportation  of  the  peo- 
ple by  the  Babylonians  under  Nebuchadnezzar  was 
in  588  B.C.,  giving  a  further  period  of  133  years 
to  the  monarchy  of  Judah,  or  367  for  the  whole 
period  of  independent  national  life  after  the  date 
first  mentioned.  According  to  the  confused  chro- 
nology of  the  Book  of  Kings,  repeated,  so  far  as 
Judah  is  concerned,  in  the  Book  of  Chronicles,  the 
reigns  of  the  several  kings  were  as  follows  :  North- 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  103 

ern  Kingdom — Jeroboam,  22  years ;  Nadab,  2  ; 
Baaslia,  24 ;  Elab,  2 ;  Zimri,  7  days  ;  Omri,  12 
years  ;  Abab,  22  ;  Abaziab,  2  ;  Jeboram  (or  Joram), 
12  ;  Jebu,  28  ;  Jeboabaz,  17  ;  Joasb  (or  Jeboasb), 
16 ;  Jeroboam  II.,  41 ;  Zecbariab,  6  montbs ; 
Sballum,  one  montb  ;  Menabem,  10  years ;  Peka- 
Hab,  2  years  ;  Pekab,  20,  and  Hosbea,  9 — a  total  of 
231  to  232  years.  Kingdom  of  Judab — Reboboam, 
17  years ;  Abijam,  3 ;  Asa,  41 ;  Jebosbapbat,  25  ; 
Jeboram  (or  Joram),  8 ;  Abaziab,  1 ;  Atbabab 
(Queen  Motber),  7  ;  Joasb  (or  Jeboasb),  40  ;  Ama- 
ziab,  29  ;  Azariab  (or  Uzziab),  52 ;  Jotbam,  16 ; 
Abaz,  16  ;  Hezekiab,  29  ;  Manasseb,  55  ;  Amon,  2  ; 
Josiab,  31 ;  Jeboabaz,  3  montbs ;  Jeboiakim,  11 
years ;  Jeboiacbin,  3  montbs  ;  Zedekiab,  11  years — 
total,  394  to  395.  As  tbe  fall  of  Samaria  was  said 
to  be  in  tbe  sixtb  year  of  Hezekiab,  tbis  would 
put  tbat  event  261  years  after  tbe  accession  of 
Eeboboam  and  Jeroboam,  a  discrepancy  of  about 
tbirty  years  in  tbe  cbronology  of  tbe  two  royal 
lines,  neitber  of  wbicb  conforms  to  historical  ac- 
curacy. 

Tbe  biblical  record,  made  up  after  tbis  period 
of  bistory  was  completed,  by  a  Judean  bistori- 
ograpber,  and  revised  by  a  scribe  of  tbe  second 
temple  long  after  tbe  return  from  exile,  naturally 
sbows  a  strong  bias  against  tbe  kings  of  Israel  and 
in  favor  of  tbe  Davidic  dynasty,  wbicb  was  then 


104  THE  JEWISH  SCRFPTURES 

resrarded  as  sacred  and  destined  to  restoration  and 
perpetuity. 

Judah,  as  a  separate  kingdom,  started  with  the 
great  advantage  of  the  possession  of  an  established 
capital  on  Mount  Sion  and  a  costly  temple,  which 
was  to  become  more  and  more  a  centre  of  wor- 
ship, and  of  patriotic,  as  well  as  religious,  aspira- 
tion. It  also  had  the  prestige  of  the  reigns  of 
David  and  Solomon,  who  were  regarded  as  having 
received  a  divine  consecration.  These  conserva- 
tive influences  restrained  rebellious  inclinations 
and  held  the  succession  in  a  direct  line  from 
father  to  son  in  the  family  of  David,  and  also  pro- 
duced a  continuous  growth  of  tradition,  which 
became  sanctified  through  the  teachings  of  priests 
and  prophets.  Jeroboam  began  as  a  rebel  against 
the  "Lord's  anointed;"  he  ruled  an  independent 
and  high-spirited  people,  who  had  no  capital  or 
strongholds,  no  single  centre  of  worship,  and  no 
direct  sanction  for  a  royal  family.  The  inevitable 
consequence  was  instability,  and  a  succession  of 
revolutions,  and,  finally  dissolution,  when  crush- 
ing defeat  overtook  the  kingdom  at  the  hands  of 
an  irresistible  foreign  power. 

While  the  later  writers  attributed  all  the  ca- 
lamities and  reverses  of  the  northern  nation  to  the 
sins  of  Jeroboam,  the  son  of  Nebat,  and  to  the 
conduct  of  his  successors  in  following  his  nefarious 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  105 

example,  he  was  a  much  stronger  and  loftier  char- 
acter than  Eehoboam,  the  son  of  Solomon,  or  his 
immediate  successor.  It  was  a  matter  of  policy 
on  his  part  to  establish  places  of  worship  at 
Bethel  and  Dan  in  order  to  keep  the  people  from 
resorting  to  Jerusalem  or  the  older  fanes  on  the 
borders  of  Judah  ;  and,  though  his  recent  sojourn 
in  Egypt  and  the  spirit  of  the  times  led  him  to 
set  up  golden  calves  as  symbols  of  divinity,  the 
Jehovism  of  Judah  was  much  on  the  same  level, 
and  there  was  in  both  kingdoms  a  wide  toleration 
of  other  objects  of  worship  than  the  national 
deity.  Jeroboam  was  no  more  false  to  the  re- 
liojion  of  Israel  than  Relioboam,  and  the  latter  was 
much  weaker  as  a  ruler.  There  was  during  his 
reign  and  that  of  his  son  a  distinct  retrogression, 
and  early  in  the  former  an  Egyptian  invasion, 
which  resulted  in  stripping  the  temple  of  its  treas- 
ures, met  with  little  resistance.  There  was  a  de- 
sultory warfare  between  the  two  kingdoms  dm-ing 
these  twenty  years. 

Under  the  rule  of  Asa  at  Jerusalem,  there  was  a 
reaction  toward  greater  vigor  in  secular  affairs  and 
a  higher  spirit  in  the  religious  tendency,  which 
now  began  to  take  a  definite  direction.  Little  is 
knoAvn  of  the  prophets  and  priests  of  the  time, 
but  they  appear  to  have  begun  to  assert  the  in- 
fluence which  afterward  became  so  great.     At  all 


106  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

events,  Asa  was  induced  to  do  much  toward  sup- 
pressing the  idolatrous  worship  and  the  pagan 
practices  that  had  grown  up  since  Solomon's  day. 
Early  in  his  reign  there  was  a  revolution  in  the 
Northern  Kingdom,  headed  by  Baasha  of  the  tribe 
of  Issachar,  who  exterminated  the  family  of  Jero- 
boam and  made  himself  king,  and  then  entered 
upon  an  aggressive  policy  against  Judah.  Asa's 
only  resom-ce  for  meeting  this  was  to  purchase  an 
alliance  with  the  king  of  Syria  with  what  was  left 
of  the  treasures  of  the  temple.  Benhadad  of  Syria 
invaded  the  territory  of  Israel  and  turned  the 
scale  in  favor  of  Judah,  and  the  material  that 
Baasha  had  collected  for  fortifications  at  Kamah 
was  used  by  Asa  for  the  same  purpose  at  Geba 
and  Mizpali.  Baasha's  reign  was  soon  followed 
by  a  conspiracy  against  his  son,  and  a  counter- 
conspiracy,  which  brought  in  the  rule  of  Onnvi. 
"With  no  recognized  law  of  succession,  or  sense  of 
loyalty  to  a  dynasty,  revolution  was  sure  to  follow 
the  death  of  a  strong  king  who  had  no  son  that 
inherited  his  strong  qualities,  and  it  w^as  a  ques- 
tion of  the  success  of  the  boldest  and  ablest  con- 
spirator. The  Otnrides  were  by  far  the  ablest  of 
the  series  of  northern  kings  after  the  first  Jero- 
boam. 

Asa  of  Judah  had  repelled  an  invasion  of  the 
laud  from  Africa,  and  then  attacked  some  of  his 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  107 

neighbors,  from  whom  he  extorted  the  means  of 
replenishing  the  temple  treasures.  He  died  of 
gout  at  an  advanced  age,  and  was  succeeded  by  his 
son  Jehoshaphat,  who  continued  his  work  in  even 
a  broader  spirit,  for  he  made  peace  with  the  kin- 
dred realm  of  the  north  and  joined  with  its  rulers 
in  a  common  defence  against  foreign  enemies. 

Omri  saw  the  importance  of  having  a  capital 
and  building  up  the  strength  of  the  nation,  as  a 
bulwark  to  an  enduring  dynasty.  Jeroboam  had 
finally  fixed  upon  Tirzah  as  the  king's  head-quar- 
ters, and  it  had  been  retained  as  such,  but  it  was 
a  place  of  no  defensive  strength  and  of  little  im- 
portance. Omri  obtained  an  elevated  and  com- 
manding situation  and  established  the  city  of  Sa- 
maria, and  his  son  Ahab  was  able  to  carry  on  his 
constructive  work  with  success.  These  two  sov- 
ereigns were,  for  the  time,  to  the  Northern  King- 
dom much  what  David  and  Solomon  had  been  to 
Judali ;  but  circumstances  were  different  with  them, 
and  the  subsequent  fate  of  their  family  and  their 
nation  consigned  to  unfriendly  hands  the  writing 
of  their  story.  Their  glory  was  effaced  and  a 
cloud  of  obloquy  cast  upon  their  names.  Ahab 
especially  was  held  up  as  the  embodiment  of  all 
vileness.  Intent  upon  building  up  the  national 
power  and  prosperity  of  his  realm,  he  formed  an 
alliance  with  Tyre  and  married  a  daughter  of  its 


lOS  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

king,  as  Solomon  had  sought  the  alliance  of  Egypt 
and  married  a  daughter  of  the  Pharaoh.  Jezebel 
encouraged  the  worship  of  Baal,  which  was  that 
of  her  country,  and  Ahab  showed  it  an  easy  tol- 
erance, while  retaining  a  formal  allegiance  to  the 
God  of  Israel.  This  brought  upon  the  king  the 
reproach  of  the  prophets  of  Jehovah,  and  upon 
the  queen  their  detestation,  and  furnished  the  main 
reason  why  their  lives  were  afterward  portrayed 
in  such  dark  colors.  But  except  in  the  minds  of 
the  prophets  there  was  at  that  time  no  wide  dif- 
ference in  the  prevailing  religions,  and  the  same 
tolerance  had  been  displayed  by  Solomon  at  Je- 
rusalem a  century  before.  Ahab  never  fell  into 
the  sensualism  and  weakness  of  his  Judean  pro- 
totype, but  was  an  energetic  ruler  and  a  brave 
soldier  to  the  end.  Doubtless  the  sj^irited  and 
capable  Jezebel  inspired  him  with  arbitrary  no- 
tions of  sovereignty,  and  spurred  him  to  conduct 
most  reprehensible  in  the  eyes  of  the  prophets. 

The  curious  legend  of  Elijah  and  Elisha  touches 
chiefly  the  reign  of  Ahab,  and  has  little  relation 
to  the  Southern  Kingdom.  It  represents  Jezebel 
as  persecuting  and  slaying  the  prophets  of  Jeho- 
vah, and  Elijah  as  slaughtering  the  prophets  of 
Baal,  after  defeating  them  in  a  prayer  test,  and 
connects  the  "  Tishbite,"  and  the  successor  upon 
whom   his   mantle  fell,  with  the  conspiracy  that 


THE  TWO  ETNGDOMS  109 

ended  the  dynasty  of  Omri.  The  historical  ele- 
ment in  this  legend  is  slight  and  leaves  it  doubt- 
ful whether  the  two  figures  that  appear  in  it  are 
not  a  double  reflex  of  one  actual  person. 

Ahab  showed  vigor  and  courage  in  resisting  the 
aggression  of  Benhadad  of  SjTia,  and  it  was  in 
this  that  his  alliance  with  Jehoshaphat  was  of  the 
greatest  service.  The  two  kings  agreed  substan- 
tially in  their  religion,  though  the  monarch  of 
Judah  was  on  more  friendly  terms  Avith  the  proph- 
ets, and  was  mider  no  such  adverse  influence  as 
was  exercised  ujDon  Ahab  by  the  queen,  and  they 
acted  together  most  amicably.  In  fact  their  alli- 
ance was  strengthened  by  the  marriage  of  Jehosh- 
aphat's  son  Joram  and  Ahab's  sister,  Athaliah 
(unless  the  latter  was  Ahab's  daughter,  as  some- 
times stated). 

After  Ahab  had  twice  repelled  an  invasion  of 
his  land  by  the  king  of  Syria,  Jehoshaphat  joined 
him  in  an  aggressive  campaign  for  the  recovery  of 
Ramoth  Gilead.  There  is  a  curious  account  of  a 
controversy  of  the  prophets  over  this  undertaking. 
The  attempt  resulted  in  the  death  of  Ahab  and  the 
retreat  of  the  king  of  Judah  to  his  own  capital. 
Ahaziah,  the  son  of  Ahab,  reigned  in  his  stead, 
but,  losing  his  life  as  the  result  of  an  accident, 
was  succeeded  in  two  years  by  a  brother,  Joram. 
It  was  at  this  time  that  Moab  developed  power 


110  THIS  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

under  King  Mesha,  who  achieved  complete  inde- 
pendence of  Israel,  and  interesting  fragments  of 
whose  own  account  of  his  exploits  have  been  un- 
earthed. Israel  and  Judah  united,  with  the  aid  of 
Edom,  in  a  camj^aign  to  bring  Moab  into  subjec- 
tion and  failed.  AccordiDg  to  the  account.  King 
Mesha,  when  pushed  to  extremity,  terrorized  his 
enemies  by  sacrificing  his  oldest  son  on  the  wall 
of  Kir-hareseth.  The  explanation  of  the  defeat 
by  the  statement,  "  there  was  great  Avrath  against 
Israel,"  seems  inadequate ;  but  the  prophet  Elisha 
is  rej)resented  as  directing  the  campaign  by  divi- 
nation and  fomenting  trouble  between  the  two 
Hebrew  kings,  one  of  whom  he  despised  for  the 
sins  of  his  father  and  mother.  This  is  more 
nearly  adequate,  as  an  explanation. 

Jehoshaphat  was  soon  after  succeeded  by  his  son 
Joram,  or  Jehoram,  and  the  alliance  of  the  two 
kingdoms  was  strengthened  by  the  connection  of 
their  rulers  by  marriage.  It  was  a  period  of  weak- 
ness for  Judah  ;  and  Edom,  which  had  long  been 
its  tributary,  achieved  independence.  Ahaziah, 
who  succeeded  the  short  reign  of  Joram,  joined 
with  Joram  of  Israel  in  another  effort  to  recover 
llamoth  Gilead  from  Syria,  Hazael  having  become 
king  at  Damascus.  The  effort  was  as  disastrous 
as  the  former  one,  and  Joram  retired  to  Samaria, 
wounded,  whither  Ahaziah  followed.     Both  speed- 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  111 

ily  became  victims  of  the  conspiracy  of  Jehu, 
which  put  an  end  to  the  Omrid  dynasty.  The 
legend  of  Elijah  and  Elisha  enters  strangely  into 
the  story  of  Jehu,  who  was  represented  as  the  in- 
strument of  Jehovah  in  exterminating  the  off- 
spring of  Ahab.  His  assassination  of  both  kings, 
his  massacre  of  their  families,  and  his  treacherous 
and  merciless  slaughter  of  the  priests  of  Baal,  are 
set  down  to  his  credit  and  rewarded  with  the 
throne  for  four  generations ;  but  these  merits 
were  offset  by  his  allowing  the  places  and  forms 
of  worship  to  remain  which  had  been  established 
by  the  rebel  Jeroboam. 

At  Jerusalem  Athaliah,  who  had  some  of  the 
qualities  of  Jezebel,  and  exercised  a  strong  influ- 
ence upon  the  last  two  kings,  her  husband  and 
son,  became  queen-regent  upon  the  death  of  the 
latter  and  of  his  brothers  at  the  hand  of  Jehu. 
She  ruled  seven  ^^ears,  when  a  conspiracy,  in 
-wliich  the  priests  were  concerned,  led  to  her  over- 
throw, that  the  direct  line  of  David  might  be  re- 
stored. The  account,  which  is  manifestly  un- 
friendly because  of  her  connection  with  the  family 
of  Ahab,  represents  her  as  compassing  the  death 
of  the  children  of  Ahaziah,  except  Joasli,  who  was 
concealed  by  the  sister  of  Ahaziah  until  the  con- 
spiracy was  brought  to  a  head  by  Jehoiada,  the 
priest.     Athaliah  was  a  capable  and  courageous 


113  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPT CRES 

ruler,  so  far  as  appears,  but  the  plot  resulted  in 
her  assassination  and  the  proclamation  of  Joasli 
as  kiDg  at  the  age  of  seven.  This  was  a  triumph 
of  the  priests  at  Jerusalem,  as  the  accession  of 
Jehu  was  a  victory  for  the  prophets  at  Samaria. 

Joash  devoted  a  part  of  his  long  reign  to  efforts 
to  put  the  temple  in  repair  and  to  replenish  its 
treasures,  but  finding  that  the  priests  appropriated 
the  funds,  as  had  been  their  wont,  he  took  meas- 
ures to  secure  them  hj  having  the  contributions 
deposited  in  locked  chests  with  an  opening  in  the 
top  for  the  purpose.  Though  it  is  said  in  one  ac- 
count that  he  did  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  all 
his  da^^s,  as  instructed  by  the  priests,  in  his  mature 
years  he  took  such  measures  of  repression  as  to 
incur  their  hostility,  as  plainly  appears  in  the  later 
account,  which  was  the  product  of  the  priesthood 
in  the  height  of  its  developmeut. 

The  power  of  Syria  on  the  east  of  Israel  and 
Judah,  was  growing  constantly  more  formidable, 
while  the  terrible  empire  of  Assyria,  with  its  men- 
aces of  conquest,  began  to  lower  on  the  far  hori- 
zon. During  the  reign  of  Jehoahaz,  son  of  Jehu, 
the  Syrian  king,  Hazael,  overran  the  northern  na- 
tion and  was  diverted  from  an  attack  upon  Jerusa- 
lem only  by  being  bought  off  by  Joash  with  the 
treasures  of  the  temple,  which  were  again  depleted 
for   the  purpose.      Jehoahaz   of   Israel   was   sue- 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  113 

ceeded  by  his  son  Joash,  or  Jehoash,  who  made 
head  against  the  new  king  of  Syria,  Benhadad 
III.,  and  recovered  the  captured  towns.  Joash  of 
Judah  fell  a  victim  to  a  plot  among  his  own  ser- 
vants, and  was  assassinated,  being  succeeded  by  his 
son  Amaziah,  v/ho  seems  to  have  been  ambitious 
of  military  conquest.  He  brought  Edom  into  sub^ 
jection  again,  and  for  some  reason  not  made  evi- 
dent, sent  a  defiance  to  Joash  of  Israel.  Keceiv- 
ing  an  evasive  reply  he  marched  against  the 
northern  king  and  was  defeated.  Joash  treated 
him  with  relative  magnanimity,  but  broke  down  a 
part  of  the  wall  of  Jerusalem,  and  carried  away 
such  booty  as  he  could  get  from  the  palace  and 
temple. 

The  ruler  at  Samaria,  from  825  to  775  B.C.,  was 
Jeroboam  II.,  who  undertook  to  restore  and  in- 
crease the  importance  of  his  realm.  He  made 
some  conquests  over  neighboring  people,  including 
Moab,  and  there  is  a  curious  memorial  of  the  cam- 
paign against  that  land  in  a  tirade  by  the  prophet 
Jonah,  which  has  been  preserved  in  the  Book  of 
Isaiah  (chapters  xv.  and  xvi.).  The  national  pros- 
perity of  the  time,  and  the  consequent  wealth  and 
luxury,  together  with  the  tendency  which  these 
begot  to  neglect  the  national  worship  and  yield  to 
the  fascinations  of  debasing  foreign  cults,  are  not- 
able as  bringing  forth  the  first  of  those  terrible  de- 
8 


114  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

nunciatioiis  and  warnings  that  have  come  down  to 
-us  in  the  "prophecies."  Amos,  Joel,  and  Hosea 
were  the  first  heralds  of  that  mighty  force  that  was 
to  shape  the  destinies  of  Israel  in  the  future. 

During  the  reign  of  Jeroboam  II.,  at  Samaria, 
Amaziah  of  Judah  had  suffered  a  fate  similar  to 
that  of  his  father.  A  conspiracy  in  his  own  army 
drove  him  from  Jerusalem,  and  he  was  overtaken 
and  slain  at  Lachish,  but  he  was  "  buried  with  his 
fathers,"  and  his  son  Ahaziah,  or  Uzziah,  suc- 
ceeded him.  The  long  reign  of  the  latter  was  a 
period  of  unusual  prosperity  for  Judah,  and  some 
recovery  of  lost  possessions  upon  her  borders. 
The  national  religion  remained  much  as  it  had 
been  since  the  days  of  Asa,  and  there  was  no  such 
agitation  as  had  begun  in  the  north.  The  king- 
seems,  like  his  grandfather,  to  have  incurred  the 
ill-will  of  the  temple  priests,  and  is  represented  in 
their  version  of  his  reign  as  having  been  smitten 
with  leprosy  in  consequence  of  a  conflict  Avith  them 
over  the  right  to  burn  incense. 

After  the  death  of  Jeroboam  the  strength  of  the 
Northern  Kingdom  began  to  decline,  and  the  men- 
ace from  the  far  east  that  hung  over  all  the  lands 
between  the  upper  Euphrates  and  the  sea,  grew 
more  terrible.  Jeroboam's  son,  Zechariah,  was 
assassinated  at  Samaria  by  Shallum,  who  speedily 
became   the  victim   of   another    plot,   headed   by 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  115 

Menahem,  at  Tirzali.  The  latter  held  the  throne 
for  several  years,  but  showed  more  brutality  than 
capacity  for  government. 

It  was  about  765  B.C.  that  the  great  military 
despotism  of  Assyria  began  to  make  itself  keenly 
felt  near  the  borders  of  Israel.  Nineveh  at  this 
time  overshadowed  Babylon,  and  Assyria  was  the 
rival  power  to  Egypt  in  the  aggressive  spirit  of 
conquest.  Policy  dictated  a  union  of  the  Semitic 
nations  for  common  defence ;  but,  though  lack  of 
union  meant  almost  certain  destruction,  the  proph- 
ets, who  became  a  pow^erful  political  factor,  always 
inveighed  against  joining  with  the  "heathen" — 
those  having  alien  gods — whether  of  Syria  or  Phoe- 
nicia, and  denounced  every  suggestion  of  alliance 
with  Egypt,  the  only  power  able  to  cope  with  their 
enemies,  as  a  crime  against  Jehovah.  Their  plea 
was  always  for  submission  to  their  God  and  reli- 
ance upon  him,  and  through  that  policy  they  helped 
to  destroy  their  nation,  but  in  so  doing  they  helped 
also  to  fulfil  the  real  mission  of  their  race. 

The  first  invasion  of  Israel  by  an  Assyrian  force 
remains  in  obscurity,  and  no  such  king  as  Pul,  to 
whom  Menahem  is  said  to  have  paid  a  ransom, 
exacted  from  the  men  of  wealth,  can  be  identified. 
The  common  assumption  that  the  name  was  ap- 
plied to  Tiglath-pileser  is  certainly  not  well 
founded.     It  may  have   belonged   to   some  com- 


116  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

mander  of  an  expedition,  not  a  king  ;  but  there  is 
no  doubt  that  the  country  was  filled  with  dread  of 
the  invader.  Menahem  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 
but  in  two  years  there  was  one  of  the  plots,  so 
common  in  that  kingdom,  for  overthrowing  the 
ruler,  and  he  was  slain  by  Pekah,  a  military  offi- 
cer, who  seized  the  throne.  Not  far  from  this 
time  Jotham  succeeded  Uzziah  in  Judah  and  pur- 
sued the  mild  course  of  his  predecessors  in  cher- 
ishing the  temple,  and  at  the  same  time  tolerating 
the  mixed  worship  of  the  "high  places  "  through- 
out the  land.  Syria  and  Israel  formed  an  alli- 
ance for  defence  against  Assyria,  but  unwisely 
used  it  also  for  attack  upon  Judah.  What 
mainly  held  the  great  eastern  empire  back  was  its 
contest  with  Egypt,  but  as  the  latter  had  friendly 
relations  with  the  cities  of  Phoenicia,  on  or  near 
the  Mediterranean,  it  increased  the  peril  of  the 
feeble  nations  that  were  interposed  between  these 
aggressive  powers.  It  was  the  pressure  of  this  sit- 
uation which,  more  and  more,  excited  the  alarm 
and  inspired  the  menaces  and  warnings  of  the  clear- 
eyed  prophets,  whose  sole  idea  of  escape,  however, 
was  submission  to  the  will  of  Jehovah  and  reli- 
ance upon  his  power.  The  chief  voice  raised  at 
this  stage  of  the  coming  crisis  was  that  of  Hosea. 

Under  Ahaz,  son  and  successor  of  Jotham,  there 
was  a   distinct   retrogression  of   the  kingdom   of 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  117 

Jndali,  material  and  religions.  The  tolerance 
sliown  to  the  worship  of  Baal,  Ashteroth  (Astarte), 
and  other  foreign  deities,  Avas  a  menace  to  the  as- 
cendancy of  the  national  God.  This  and  the  perils 
from  external  force  were  what  first  raised  the 
wrathful  and  warning  voice  of  Isaiah.  Rezin  of 
Damascus  and  Pekali  of  Samaria  joined  hands 
against  Ahaz  of  Jerusalem,  Avith  the  evident  in- 
tent of  forcing  Judah  into  a  combination  for  re- 
sisting Assyria ;  but,  against  the  advice  of  Isaiah 
and  without  his  knowledge,  Ahaz  made  a  secret 
league  with  Tiglath-pileser,  the  king  at  Nineveh, 
and  stripped  the  temple  and  the  palace  of  their 
treasures  once  more  to  purchase  his  protection. 
Whether  or  not  this  incited  the  attack  upon 
Damascus,  and  afterward  upon  Samaria,  it  re- 
lieved Judah  from  immediate  danger.  At  Damas- 
cus Ahaz  paid  homage  in  person  to  the  Assyrian 
monarch,  and  further  excited  the  wrath  of  the 
prophets  and  of  the  priests  of  a  later  time  by  hav- 
ing an  altar  which  he  saw  there  copied  at  Jeru- 
salem. Its  ally  defeated,  its  provinces  beyond  the 
Jordan  overrun,  terror  and  confusion  at  its  capital, 
the  Northern  Kingdom  entered  upon  the  j)eriod  of 
its  agony  and  final  dissolution,  without  the  sjm- 
pathy  of  its  brother  Judah.  Pekah  was  assas- 
sinated, to  give  the  throne  to  the  last  king  of 
Israel,  Hoshea,  who  had  a  reign  of  nine  years,  of 


118  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

"vvLich  the  last  three  were  passed  in  the  horrors 
of  a  siege  at  Samaria. 

Hezekia-h  had  come  to  the  throne  at  Jerusalem, 
and  Shalmaneser  had  succeeded  Tiglath-pileser  as 
king  of  Assyria,  and  as  emperor  over  all  its  tribu- 
taries. Hoshea  made  a  formal  submission  to  him, 
but  secretly  sought  an  alliance  with  Egypt  to  get 
rid  of  the  humiliating  yoke.  This,  with  an  upris- 
ing on  the  Phoenician  side,  brought  the  wrath  of 
the  Assyrian  monarch  upon  Ephraim,  and  siege 
was  laid  to  Samaria  on  its  commanding  height. 
It  took  three  years  to  reduce  it,  but  when  it  fell 
the  kingdom  of  Joseph  was  no  more.  As  usual 
in  Asiatic  conquests  of  the  time,  there  was  a  trans- 
portation of  inhabitants  to  other  territory  be- 
longing to  the  invader,  and  a  migration  of  colonists 
to  the  vacated  lands.  The  tribes  of  Israel  were 
dispersed  forever,  and  Judah  was  shut  up  in  its 
little  realm  about  the  "  holy  city "  to  await  the 
destruction  of  its  own  secular  power,  and  the 
crushing  out  of  its  life  as  a  nation,  v/hile  it  wrought, 
all  unconsciously,  a  higher  mission  than  that  con- 
signed to  great  em2)ires.  What  to  humanity  to- 
day is  Nineveh  or  Babylon,  or  the  palaces  of  the 
Pharaohs,  compared  to  that  little  capital  which 
displaced  the  Jebusites'  stronghold  on  Mount  Sion, 
where  Melchisedek  had  been  king  of  Salem  and 
priest  of  the  Most  High  God ! 


XX 

riKST  WKITTEN   LITEKATUEE 

This  hasty  sketch  of  the  two  Idngdoms  has  been 
made  in  order  to  furnish  the  historical  background 
in  outline  of  the  remarkable  literary  efflorescence 
of  this  period  of  nearly  two  centuries  and  a  half. 
Up  to  the  time  of  the  division  of  the  kingdom 
after  the  death  of  Solomon,  there  was  substan- 
tially no  literature  in  written  form.  The  Hebrew 
alphabet  had  come  into  use  from  Phoenicia  during 
the  era  of  the  later  Judges.  When  Samuel  in- 
vested Saul  with  royalty  at  Mizpah,  he  is  said  to 
have  "  told  the  people  the  manner  of  the  king- 
dom, and  wrote  it  in  a  book."  This  is  a  later 
statement,  but,  if  it  is  authentic,  it  may  indicate 
the  beginning  of  a  bald  register  of  names  and 
events,  which  developed  into  the  genealogies  and 
records  of  the  kings,  that  became  the  chief  material 
of  the  later  annals.  It  is  possible  that  some  of  the 
songs  and  hymns  included  in  the  psalms,  and  some 
of  the  wise  sayings  of  the  Book  of  Proverbs  were 
put  in  writing  in  the  time  of  David  and  Solomon. 
Of  this  there  is  no  evidence,  but  it  is  not  improbable. 


120  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

Tlie  extent  to  whicli  writing  was  then  used 
must  have  been  extremely  limited,  but  there  was 
a  great  body  of  tradition,  of  oral  literature,  trans- 
mitted from  generation  to  generation  in  an  in- 
creasing and  varying  volume ;  in  dim  memories 
of  the  early  migrations,  legends  of  the  ancestors, 
leaders,  and  heroes  of  the  race ;  stories  of  perils, 
adventures,  and  triumphs,  and  of  the  miraculous 
doings  of  Jehovah  in  behalf  of  his  chosen  people. 
It  was  analogous  to  the  material,  which  not  far 
from  the  same  time  filled  the  storehouse  of  the 
first  literature  of  the  Aryan  race,  the  epics  of 
Homer,  the  homilies  of  Hesiod,  the  history  of 
Herodotus.  The  stirring  experiences  which  prim- 
itive people  carried  in  memory  and  related  by 
word  of  mouth  were  heightened  and  colored  in 
the  telling,  and  rhythmic  form  and  measured  tones 
aided  in  their  transmission.  As  the  steady  march 
or  the  dactylic  measure,  the  frequent  recurrence 
of  epithets  and  identical  verses,  helped  to  preserve 
the  Homeric  poems  before  they  were  written  down, 
so  the  parallelism  of  the  Hebrew  chants  was  at 
first  a  device  to  aid  the  memory. 

The  Ephraimites  were  always  characterized  by 
a  certain  superiority  of  mental  activity  and  energy, 
and  it  was  in  the  Northern  Kingdom  that  the  ear- 
liest systematic  literary  development  began.  Its 
first  product  was  a  collection  of  legends   of  the 


FIRST  WRITTEN  LITERATURE  121 

patiiarclis.  The  author's  name  is  lost,  and  the 
work  itself  was  discarded  when  subsequent  writers 
had  used  such  parts  of  it  as  suited  their  purposes, 
but  much  of  the  substance,  mingled  with  other 
material,  survives  in  the  Book  of  Genesis,  and 
forms  the  most  alluring  portions  of  its  narrative. 
It  cannot  be  absolutely  detached,  and  it  is  not 
possible  to  ascertain  clearly  the  later  touches,  but 
of  its  general  character  and  aim  there  is  no  doubt. 
Jeroboam  had  been  recalled  from  exile  in  Egypt, 
where  he  had  been  in  high  favor  with  the  ruling 
family.  He  may  have  brought  back  traditions 
of  the  sojourn  of  his  race  upon  the  borders 
of  that  land,  and  he  doubtless  gathered  much  of 
the  material  for  the  fascinating  legend  of  Joseph, 
who  was  regarded  as  the  ancestor  of  his  tribe,  and 
perhaps  his  own  prototype,  Jeroboam  set  up  his 
first  capital  at  Shechem,  which  the  legend  sancti- 
fied as  the  burial-place  of  Joseph,  and  which  was 
near  the  oldest  sanctuary  of  Israel  at  Shiloh.  His 
chief  place  of  worship  he  established  at  Bethel, 
where  the  ancient  fane  of  Luz  had  been  time  out 
of  mind,  and  that  became  glorified  with  the  legend 
of  Jacob.  There  remained  in  the  popular  mind, 
or  at  least  in  the  mind  of  the  first  writer  of  Israel's 
legends,  the  most  striking  features  of  the  old 
Babylonian  and  Assyrian  myths  and  fables,  and 
its  story  of  the  migration  of  Abraham  from  Ur  of 


123  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

the  Chalclees  ;  but  most  of  the  Abraham  legeud 
was  a  later  develoj^ment,  and  it  was  expanded  and 
adapted  when  the  traditions  of  the  two  branches 
of  the  Hebrew  family  were  blended  by  later  hands. 
In  its  earliest  form  Abraham  appears  especially 
as  the  ancestor  of  the  southern  people  and  closely 
associated  with  Hebron,  their  first  capital  and  the 
seat  of  their  chief  shrine  before  the  building  of  the 
temple.  The  Isaac  legend  is  perhaps  the  oldest 
of  all,  and  was  confined  to  the  vicinity  of  Beer- 
sheba,  and  when  Abraham  was  made  the  putative 
ancestor  of  the  whole  nation,  as  well  as  of  Arabia 
and  Edom,  and  made  to  wander  over  the  future 
possessions  of  his  progeny  even  to  the  borders  of 
Egypt,  the  story  of  his  sojourn  at  Beer-sheba  and 
his  relations  with  the  king  of  Gerar  Avas  made  out 
of  the  material  of  the  older  tale.  The  original  le- 
gends of  the  patriarchs  also  derive  color  here  and 
there  from  the  mythology  of  Phoenicia,  a  close 
neighbor  of  Ephraim. 

At  this  time  the  characteristics  of  the  tribes 
were  settled,  and  something  was  known,  and  more 
imagined,  of  their  separate  and  their  common  his- 
tory. The  names  of  some  of  them  were  derived 
from  heathen  deities,  those  of  others  from  pecu- 
liarities of  the  territory  which  they  occupied,  and 
still  others  from  the  qualities  of  the  people.  Ben- 
jamin was  never  an  ethnic  division,  but  a  group  of 


FIRST  WRITTEN  LITERATURE  123 

bold  warriors,  skilled  in  the  use  of  the  bow  and 
sling.  It  was  formed  at  the  time  of  the  invasion 
of  Canaan,  and  it  became  a  separate  community 
bj  having  a  place  allotted  to  it  in  the  partition  of 
the  conquered  lands.  Its  name,  which  means  left- 
handed,  or  son  of  the  left  hand,  was  derived  from 
their  manner  of  using  the  sling.  Levi  w^as  mere- 
ly the  aggregation  of  the  ministers  of  the  worship 
of  Jehovah,  the  name  and  function  being  derived 
from  Eg3^pt,  and  it  was  counted  as  a  tribe  to  be 
supported  by  the  others.  Out  of  these  names  and 
characteristics  were  created  the  personifications 
called  the  sons  of  Jacob,  or  Israel.  The  original 
collection  of  patriarchal  legends  was  strongly 
marked  by  the  spirit  of  hostility  then  existing 
between  the  two  kingdoms.  Joseph  was  greatly 
exalted  and  glorified,  while  Judah  was  degraded, 
and  in  the  account  of  the  latter' s  domestic  re- 
lations there  was  apparently  a  bitter  satire  on  the 
family  of  David.  In  spite  of  the  "harmoniz- 
ing "  of  later  writers,  this  characteristic  is  stiU 
conspicuous. 

At  about  the  same  time,  and  also  in  the  North- 
ern Kingdom,  appeared  another  collection  of  pop- 
ular traditions  and  legends  of  a  wholly  different 
character,  reduced  to  writing  for  the  first  time. 
AVhether  the  ''Wars  of  Jehovah"  and  the  "Book 
of  Jasher "   were    different   titles    for   the   same 


134  THE  JEWISH  SCBIPTUIiES 

collection,  designations  of  different  parts  of  tliat 
collection,  or  entirely  separate  works,  is  not  cer- 
tain ;  but  the  material,  mingled  of  prose  and  rude 
verse,  related  to  tlie  same  series  of  events.  It 
covered  the  period  from  the  time  the  conquest  of 
the  *'  promised  land  "  was  determined  upon  to  the 
death  of  Saul,  and  it  contained  stories  of  the  ex- 
ploits and  adventures  of  that  long  and  eventful 
episode  in  the  life  of  Israel.  The  narrative  parts 
were  interspersed  with  songs  of  triumph  and  pop- 
ular chants,  celebrating  occurrences  that  stirred 
the  blood  beyond  the  expression  of  prosaic  lan- 
guage, and  these  had  been  carried  in  the  popular 
memory  for  generations. 

Like  all  primitive  literature  that  has  strength 
enough  to  live,  such  of  the  material  of  this  collec- 
tion as  has  survived  the  ravages  of  compilers  and 
"  harmonizers  "  contains  more  of  the  fragrance  of 
the  soil,  the  color  of  the  time,  and  the  blood  and 
spirit  of  the  people  to  which  it  relates,  than  any 
genius  can  infuse  into  the  periods  of  formal  his- 
tory. It  is  doubtful  if  Moses  appeared  even  as 
a  leader  in  these  heroic  recitals,  and  it  is  almost 
certain  that  nothing  was  known  of  him  as  a  law- 
giver when  they  were  written  down.  His  legend 
in  that  character  was  a  later  production,  and  grew 
out  of  the  development  of  the  lavr  in  after-time. 
There  is  some  question  even  whether  the  name  of 


FIRST  WRITTEN  LITERATURE  125 

Joshua  figured  nfc  all  in  tlie  "  Wars  of  Jeliovah," 
or  the  "  Book  of  Jasher."  In  the  narrative  subse- 
quently made  up  it  was  associated  with  events  and 
deeds  scattered  over  a  long  period  of  time,  but 
grouped  as  if  consecutive,  and  it  was  used  as  a  sin- 
gle personification  of  the  leaders  of  the  invasion 
and  conquest. 


XXI 

THE  FIEST   SACEED   HISTOEY 

Neither  in  the  collection  of  legends  of  the 
patriarchs,  nor  in  that  of  the  legends  relating  to 
the  wars  of  the  conquest,  was  there  any  definite 
moral  or  religious  purpose.  The  one  accounted 
for  the  origin  of  the  tribes  by  tracing  them  to  an- 
cestors bearing  their  names,  and  the  other  told  of 
the  exploits  of  the  conquerors  and  of  the  heroes  of 
the  infant  nation.  Jehovah  was  the  God  of  Israel, 
as  Chemosh  was  the  god  of  Moab,  and  Baal  the 
god  of  Ammon  and  other  Semitic  peoples,  and 
there  was  no  wide  difference  in  the  prevalent  con- 
ception of  their  attributes,  or  the  manner  of  their 
worship,  down  to  the  time  of  Jeroboam  and  Eeho- 
boam.  But  in  the  century  follov/ing  that  time 
tliere  was  a  remarkable  advance.  In  the  schools 
or  conventicles  of  Nebiim,  or  prophets,  of  which 
intimations  appear  in  the  story  of  Samuel,  closely 
associated  with  the  primitive  sanctuary  at  Shiloh, 
and  still  stronger  intimations  in  the  story  of  Eli- 
jah and  Elislia,  when  the  persecutions  of  Jeze- 
bel, under  the  easy  tolerance  of  Ahab,  drove  them 


THE  FIRST  SACRED  HISTORY  127 

into  obscure  retreats,  a  wonderful  ferment  was  go- 
ing on,  especially  in  the  Northern  Kingdom.  The 
prophets,  brooding  over  the  traditions  of  the  past, 
and  reverting  to  the  simpler  and  purer  life  of  the 
pastoral  days,  conceived  loftier  ideas  of  their 
Deity  and  of  his  relation  to  the  people  of  Israel. 
They  nourished  a  pride  in  their  race  and  a  faith 
in  its  destiny  which  led  them  vaguely  to  invest 
him  with  the  attributes  of  a  God  of  the  universe. 

To  bind  the  people  in  subjection  to  Jehovah, 
and  to  resist  the  tendency  to  wander  off  under  the 
allurements  of  gods  less  exacting,  thej^  saw  the  need 
of  some  definite  prescription  of  rules  of  conduct 
and  of  obedience,  emanating  from  the  authority  of 
the  Deity  himself,  and  having  the  most  solemn  and 
sacred  sanction.  The  grand  traditions  of  the  race, 
still  in  a  large  measure  plastic  and  floating,  fur- 
nished the  chief  material  for  their  reflections  upon 
the  past,  while  they  brooded  over  the  needs  of  the 
present  and  the  hopes  of  the  futui-e.  There  was 
Abraham,  hitherto  represented  as  the  father  of 
their  race,  wandering  from  Mesopotamia  and  tak- 
ing possession  of  the  land  which  was  to  be  the  in- 
heritance of  his  progeny!  Was  it  not  Jehovah 
that  brought  him  hither,  and  did  he  not  promise 
both  the  multitudinous  progeny  and  the  goodly  in- 
heritance ?  Did  he  not  repeat  the  covenant  with 
Jacob  on  the  sacred  height  of  Bethel  ? 


138  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

When,  in  the  time  of  the  great  famine,  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  took  refuge  in  Egypt,  where  one  of 
them  had  become  an  exalted  personage,  and  there 
under  a  change  of  dynasty  fell  into  a  galling  bond- 
age, was  it  not  Jehovah  that  delivered  them  with 
a  mighty  hand  ?  The  shadowy  traditions  of  their 
great  leader,  Moses,  suggested  him  as  the  "  Man 
of  God,"  the  instrument  of  deliverance  in  the  hands 
of  a  higher  power.  It  was  indeed  Jehovah  that 
had  wrought  that  great  deliverance,  and  brought 
his  people  through  trials  and  perils  to  the  prom- 
ised land,  and  did  he  not  renew  his  covenant  with 
the  people  in  the  wilderness,  and  bind  them  to 
obedience  in  return  for  what  he  had  done  for 
them  ? 

Here  was  the  material  out  of  which  to  work  the 
first  theology  with  a  spiritual  vitality  that  the 
world  ever  knew.  It  was  the  beginning  of  the  the- 
ology that  lives  in  the  Jewish  and  Christian  faiths 
of  to-day.  It  was  after  the  triumph  of  the  pro- 
phetic influence  in  the  North  under  Jehu  that, 
from  a  source  now  unknown,  sprang  the  first  of 
the  sacred  books  of  the  Hebrews.  It  formed  an 
important  part  of  the  material  out  of  which  the 
"Books  of  Moses"  were  wrought,  and  is  known  to 
critics  as  the  "  Jehovist  document  "  of  the  compil- 
ers of  those  books,  on  account  of  the  name  applied 
throughout  to  the  Deity  by  the  writer.     It  em- 


THE  FIRST  SACRED  HISTORY  129 

bodied  the  first  Torali,  or  statement  of  laws,  and 
doubtless  its  main  purpose  was  to  formulate  the 
rules  of  conduct  therein  contained,  accompanying 
them  with  a  relation  of  events  and  with  explana- 
tions that  would  most  strongly  impress  their  sa- 
credness  and  binding  character  upon  the  minds  of 
the  people.  But  it  also  contained  the  first  attempt 
to  account  for  the  origin  of  the  world  and  of  the 
human  race,  as  well  as  of  the  Hebrew  people,  and 
its  dominant  purpose  was  to  magnify  and  exalt  the 
Hebrew  God  above  all  other  gods. 

The  account  of  the  creation,  of  the  Garden  of 
Eden,  and  of  the  deluge  that  swept  away  the  first 
perverse  product  of  the  Almighty's  hand,  was  made 
up  from  fragments  of  Babylonian  myths,  carried 
in  popular  tradition  for  ages.  But  the  ancient 
material  was  transmuted  by  the  Semitic  genius. 
This  forgotten  writer  of  the  ninth  century  before 
the  Christian  era  had  a  certain  profound  philoso- 
phy. He  took  a  sombre  view  of  the  early  world. 
To  him  we  owe  the  germ  of  the  stern  doctrine  of 
original  sin  and  the  tendency  of  all  mankind  to 
evil,  and  it  was  he  that  drew  with  the  heaviest 
strokes  the  awful  lineaments  of  Jehovah  as  a  God 
of  wrath  and  of  vengeance.  The  first  offspring  of 
the  original  human  couple  fiercely  murdered  his 
gentle  brother,  and  peopled  the  earth  with  a  race 
of  which  only  one  family  deserved  to  survive  the 
9 


1^30  THE  JEWISH  SCRTPTURES 

flood — for  the  Jehovist  knew  nothing  of  Seth.  In 
his  broad  sketch  of  the  antediluvian  generations 
he  drew  from  both  Babylonian  and  Phoenician 
fable,  and  names  appear  that  belong  to  the  mythi- 
cal Chaldean  dynasties.  Memory  of  the  colossal 
temple  of  Bel  at  Borsippa,  mifinished  for  ages, 
suggested  the  story  of  the  tower,  illustrating  at 
once  the  punishment  of  human  pride  and  the  con- 
fusion of  tongues. 

The  legends  of  the  patriarchs  were  in  the  writ- 
er's hands,  and  he  made  free  use  of  them,  but  his 
efforts  to  combine  different  traditions  sometimes 
had  an  incongruous  result.  Two  versions  of  the 
same  incident  are  often  left  without  a  reconcilia- 
tion of  differences,  or  an  obliteration  of  contradic- 
tions. A  distinctly  religious  character  is  given  to 
Abraham,  with  whom  the  first  covenant  or  agree- 
ment is  made,  which  is  to  bind  his  offspring  in  de- 
votion to  Jehovah.  His  migration  from  the  land 
of  the  Chaldees  has  a  divine  purpose.  It  was  he 
who  first  consecrated  the  holy  places  of  the  na- 
tion by  erecting  altars.  The  process  of  prefer- 
ring the  ancestral  tribes  to  the  other  progeny  of 
Abraham,  as  the  turning  of  Ishmael  into  the  wil- 
derness, and  the  supplanting  of  Edom  by  Israel, 
is  told  with  a  mythological  significance  unusual 
with  Semitic  writers. 

But  the  greatest  product  of  the  pen  of  the  Jehov- 


THE  FIRST  SACRED  HISTORY  131 

ist  was  Moses  as  the  law-giver.  He  brought  the 
vague  outlines  of  the  legendary  leader  of  the  de- 
liverance into  the  light,  and  told  of  the  signs  and 
wonders  which  attended  the  escape  from  bondage, 
making  impotent  the  i30wer  of  Pharaoh  in  compar- 
ison with  that  of  Israel's  God.  And  he  was  the 
first  to  represent  the  solemn  revelation  of  the  com- 
mands of  Jehovah,  the  statutes  and  laws  of  the 
Almighty,  delivered  by  the  mouth  of  Moses  in  the 
awful  solitude  about  Mount  Sinai,  when  the  fugi- 
tives first  found  relief  from  the  dread  of  pursuit 
but  were  still  compassed  about  with  perils. 

It  was  more  than  five  hundred  years  since  the 
deliverance  and  that  nightmare  of  Israel's  passage 
through  the  wilderness,  and  for  more  than  half  that 
period  there  had  been  no  written  language  and  no 
memorials  save  the  heap  of  stones,  or  Gilgal,  the 
pillar  set  up  in  the  earth  or  the  rude  altar,  to  mark 
events  or  experiences  of  unusual  import.  What  tra- 
dition there  may  have  been  of  storm  and  darkness 
upon  the  mountain,  of  thunders  and  of  lightnings, 
which  were  in  old  days  regarded  as  the  terrific  evi- 
dences of  divine  presence,  we  know  not.  But  we 
do  know  with  what  power  this  writer  made  use  of 
the  possibilities  of  the  situation  in  framing  the 
scene  for  the  promulgation  of  his  code  of  laws,  the 
substance  of  which  is  found  in  the  Book  of  Exodus, 
but  which  did  not  include  what  is  known  as  the 


133  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

decalogue.  The  later  part  of  his  narrative  is  drawn 
largely  from  the  "  Wars  of  Jehovah,"  helped  out 
with  old  traditions  and  colored  with  the  larger  con- 
ception of  Jehovah's  relation  to  his  people,  which 
w^as  beginning  to  prevail 


XXII 

THE   ELOHIST  VEKSION 

While  the  Southern  Kingdom  was  somewhat 
more  tardy  in  developing  literary  activity  it  was, 
owing  to  its  possession  of  the  temple  and  a  grow- 
ing priesthood,  and  to  the  relatively  orthodox 
spirit  of  its  successive  rulers,  rather  more  ad- 
vanced and  settled  in  its  rehgious  ideas.  It  pos- 
sessed substantially  the  same  traditions  as  the 
northern  realm,  and  the  practice  had  been  adopt- 
ed, amid  the  established  officialism  of  the  palace 
and  temple,  of  keeping  some  sort  of  records.  In 
these  had  been  collected  genealogies  and  historical 
and  geographical  details  relating  to  the  past,  ex- 
tracted from  the  fluctuating  stream  of  tradition. 
There,  too,  the  germs  of  a  theology  had  started, 
w^hich  were  destined  to  unite  with  those  of  the 
North  in  a  prodigious  growth. 

It  was  twenty  or  thirty  years  after  the  appear- 
ance of  the  production  referred  to  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  somewhere  about  825  B.C.,  that  a  writer 
of  the  temple  coterie  at  Jerusalem,  whose  name  is 
like^vdse  unknown,  put  forth  a  parallel  account  of 


134  TEE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

the  origin  of  the  world  and  its  people,  and  of  the 
compact  which  bound  the  Hebrews  to  submission 
to  their  God.  It  is  known  to  critics  as  the  "  Elo- 
hist  document "  in  the  material  of  the  Pentateuch, 
because  of  its  use  of  Elohim  for  the  Deity  until  the 
announcement  of  the  name  of  Jahwe,  or  Jehovah, 
bj  Moses  as  that  of  the  national  God. 

The  account  of  tlie  creation,  though  di'awn  from 
the  same  Chaldaic  source,  has  significant  points 
of  difference  from  that  of  the  northern  writer.  It 
introduced  the  six  days  period,  as  the  sanction  for 
the  Sabbath.  It  knows  nothing  of  the  Garden  of 
Eden  and  the  fall  of  man,  or  of  Cain  and  Abel. 
Seth  is  the  only  son  of  Adam,  and  for  his  descend- 
ants much  the  same  genealogy  is  given  as  is  given 
by  the  Jehovist  for  the  family  of  Cam,  and  the 
names  in  both  are  drawn  from  Chaldean  and  Phoe- 
nician mythology.  The  account  of  the  deluge  and 
of  Noah  was  derived  from  a  common  source  by  the 
two  writers,  but  differently  used,  the  Elohist  repre- 
senting a  compact  with  the  sui'vivor  of  the  flood 
against  another  destruction  of  the  race,  of  which 
the  rainbow  was  the  visible  pledge.  The  rite  of 
circumcision  was  attributed  to  Abraham  as  the 
seal  of  the  covenant  with  him.  The  practice  was 
older  and  of  uncertain  origin,  and  had  no  rehgious 
significance,  except  among  the  Hebrews,  who  laid 
great  stress  upon  it  in  later  times  as  the  distinc- 


THE  ELOHIST  VERSION-  135 

tive  badge  of  their  race  and  their  faith.  There 
were  other  characteristics  of  this  document  derived 
from  the  Judean  point  of  view,  among  which  was 
the  entire  absence  of  the  story  of  Jacob's  sons. 

The  writer  had  neither  the  lurid  imagination 
nor  the  sombre  philosophy  of  the  Jehovist.  There 
was  an  infantile  sort  of  science  in  his  cosmoo-- 
ony;  he  was  fond  of  using  his  supply  of  names 
in  genealogies  and  references  to  places,  and  his 
view  of  the  Deity  was  less  perturbed.  But  his 
main  purpose  was  the  same,  to  represent  the  cov- 
enants by  which  Israel  was  bound  to  the  deepest 
obligation  of  submission  and  obedience  to  its  God, 
and  to  set  forth  the  rales  of  conduct  that  emanated 
from  his  command.  The  common  tradition  of  the 
Egyptian  deliverance,  the  leadership  of  Moses, 
the  trials  of  the  wilderness,  and  the  conquest  of 
Canaan,  were  used  in  less  detail  than  by  the  north- 
ern writer,  but  for  a  like  purpose.  The  great  dis- 
tinction of  the  statement  of  the  divine  commands 
in  the  Elohist  document  was  the  embodiment 
therein  of  what  was  afterwards  designated  as  the 
*'Ten  Words,"  or  sayings,  which  have  been  re- 
garded by  a  large  part  of  the  world  for  ages  as  con- 
taining the  essence  of  all  the  law  regarding  moral 
and  religious  conduct. 

Whether  tradition  had  brought  down  any  part 
of  them   through   six   centuries  as  utterances  of 


136  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

Moses  is  doubtful.  Every  indication  favors  a  be- 
lief that,  tliougli  their  substance  may  be  found  in 
part  in  the  old  Egyptian  "  Book  of  the  Dead,"  they 
had  their  origin  in  the  purlieus  of  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem,  near  the  end  of  the  ninth  century  B.C. 
The  sublime  conception  of  the  Deity  as  the  God  of 
all  mankind  and  of  the  universe,  which  was  to  be 
^vrought  out  by  the  great  teachers  of  later  ages, 
was  fermenting  in  the  minds  of  the  prophets  of 
Samaria  under  Jehu,  and  of  the  priests  of  Jeru- 
salem under  Joash,  when  they  conjui'ed  up  the 
terrors  of  Mount  Sinai  and  made  the  legendary 
leader  of  the  oxodus  the  spokesman  of  the  Al- 
mighty m  proclaiming  his  decrees  to  the  world. 


XXIII 

THE   ANCIENT   PROPHETS 

It  was  during  this  period  of  the  two  kingdoms 
that  the  Nabi,  or  prophet,  began  to  play  a  new 
and  most  important  part  in  the  life  of  Israel. 
The  Nabi  first  appeared  as  a  kind  of  sorcerer,  and 
later  as  a  seer,  to  whom  great  personal  wisdom  or 
clairvoyant  powers  were  attributed.  The  person- 
age known  as  Deborah — not  a  real  name — who 
roused  the  northern  tribes  to  resisting  Jabin,  the 
Canaanite  king  of  Hazor,  and  was  said  to  have 
"  judged  Israel,"  is  also  spoken  of  as  a  prophetess, 
sitting  under  a  palm-tree  delivering  oracles  to  the 
people.  Samuel  is  represented  in  a  varied  charac- 
ter, one  being  that  of  a  seer,  who  was  to  be  con- 
sulted as  to  the  whereabouts  of  lost  cattle,  as  well 
as  matters  of  graver  import.  He  appears  in  a 
political  role  as  the  chief  agent  in  setting  up  the 
first  king,  and  is  said  not  only  to  have  invested 
Saul  with  royalty,  but  afterward  to  have  with- 
drawn his  counsel  and  support,  and  to  have 
anointed  his  successor  long  in  advance  of  the 
change   of   dynasty.     These  representations  were 


138  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

probably  due  to  the  later  development  of  the  pro- 
phetic function.  The  real  Samuel  is  only  vaguely 
outlined  in  the  mist  of  tradition,  and  the  clearest 
strokes  in  the  portrayal  are  those  of  late  writers 
who  were  creating  a  character  rather  than  describ- 
ing one. 

David  had  rather  timorous  advisers  who  were 
called  prophets,  but  when  one  of  them  had  oc- 
casion to  convey  a  severe  rebuke  he  felt  con- 
strained to  go  about  it  with  a  parable,  and  lead 
the  king  to  condemn  himself.  These  counsellors 
had  little  influence  with  the  first  Judean  king, 
and  apparently  none  with  the  second,  who  was 
much  absorbed  in  mundane  affairs  and  in  worldly 
ways  of  advancing  them.  A  prophet  of  the  old 
sanctuary  of  Shiloh,  in  Ephraim,  appears  as  the 
chief  instigator  of  the  rebellion  against  Solomon 
and  the  rupture  of  the  nation,  which  followed  the 
death  of  the  latter,  and  plays  the  part  of  a  Samuel 
to  Jeroboam  when  he  returns  from  exile  in  Egypt 
to  take  the  throne  of  the  Northern  Kingdom.  The 
lives  of  the  prophets  in  the  adverse  days  of  Omri 
and  Ahab  were  shrouded  in  mystery  and  they  be- 
came legendary  characters.  The  stories  told  of 
them  in  after  time  were  mingled  with  fable  and 
miraculous  doings  that  almost  exclude  them  from 
the  field  of  reality.  Nothing  of  the  kind  is  as- 
sociated with  those  who  come  out  into  the  light  of 


THE  ANCIENT  PHOPHETS  139 

history.  The  most  conspicuous  instance  of  the 
legendary  prophet  is  EHjah,  and  Elisha  is  only 
partly  detached  from  the  mist  that  surrounds  the 
two  imposing  figures.  The  traditions  which  con- 
nected the  latter  with  the  destruction  of  the  house 
of  Ahab  and  the  seizure  of  the  throne  at  Samaria 
by  Jehu,  and  with  the  expedition  of  the  allied 
kings  of  Judah,  Israel,  and  Syria  against  Mesha  of 
Moab,  were  probably  historical. 

It  was  about  the  time  of  Jeroboam  II.,  when  the 
omens  of  danger  from  the  great  empires  of  the 
Tigris  and  Euphrates  began  to  appear,  that  the 
prophets  first  raised  those  voices  of  warning  and 
admonition  that  have  resounded  ever  since.  They 
began  then  to  exercise  an  influence  that  was  de- 
structive of  secular  power  and  of  national  life, 
but  creative  of  a  power  and  of  a  life  that  were  to 
shape  in  no  small  measure  the  destinies  of  nations 
and  empires  in  after  time.  For  the  first  time  a 
strong  ethical  element  appeared  in  the  function  of 
the  prophet,  and  gave  to  utterances  applied  to  the 
situation  of  an  ancient  people  an  enduring  value 
that  has  preserved  them  to  all  generations.  For 
the  first  time  the  doctrine  of  righteousness  was 
taught  in  clear  and  uncompromising  tones,  and  the 
germs  of  moral  conviction  were  stirred  to  a  growth 
that  was  to  interlace  human  society  with  indestruct- 
ible and  ever-lengthening  and  strengthening  fibres. 


140  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

The  chief  function  of  the  prophet  for  two  cen- 
turies was  political,  in  the  sense  that  it  affected  the 
life  and  destiny  of  the  nation ;  but  the  political 
reasoning  of  the  greatest  of  them  was  pervaded  by 
a  fallacy  that  was  fatal  to  the  national  life.  In 
their  denunciation  of  the  iniquities  of  the  time, 
and  in  their  ajDpeals  to  the  sense  of  right,  in  their 
warnings  and  promises  as  to  the  consequences  of 
conduct  upon  one  fundamental  line  or  another, 
they  were  everlastingly  sound,  and  promulgated 
principles  on  which  alone  any  national  life  can 
permanently  endure.  But  they  preached  not  only 
an  absolute  moral  submission  to  what  they  con- 
ceived to  be  the  will  and  assumed  to  be  the  com- 
mands of  Jehovah,  but  an  absolute  dependence 
upon  the  power  of  Jehovah  to  deliver  or  defend 
the  people  from  their  enemies,  and  to  build  up 
their  strength  as  a  nation.  They  denounced  re- 
liance upon  numbers  and  material  resources,  and 
condemned  any  alliance  with  other  earthly  powers. 

Israel  was  doomed  as  a  nation  to  be  swept  away 
and  dispersed  by  the  successive  waves  of  over- 
whelming power  from  Assyria,  from  Babylonia, 
from  Persia,  from  Greece,  from  Eome,  but  if  it  had 
obeyed  the  voice  of  the  prophets,  and  put  away  all 
its  sins,  and  relied  upon  Jehovah  for  salvation, 
would  the  floods  set  in  motion  by  the  forces  then 
working  in  the  human  race  have  been  stayed? 


THE  ANCIENT  PROPHETS  141 

Is  it  not  more  rational  to  put  the  divine  impulse 
back  of  all  these  forces  than  to  confine  it  to  the 
two  petty  kingdoms  of  Palestine  and  dii-ect  it 
from  the  mouths  of  Israel's  theocratic  champions  ? 
At  any  rate,  human  events  took  their  course 
through  human  agencies  then,  as  ever  since,  what- 
ever we  may  believe  of  the  power  behind  them. 


XXIY 

THE  EAKLIEST   "PEOPHECIES" 

Pkobably  the  first  of  the  utterances  of  the 
prophets  to  be  preserved  in  writing  is  the  tirade 
against  Moab  contained  in  chapters  xv.  and  xvi. 
of  the  Book  of  Isaiah.  The  vaticinations  put 
in  the  mouth  of  Balaam,  though  connected  in 
the  narrative  with  earlier  events,  were  a  later  pro- 
duction, as  the  language  and  poetical  structure 
clearly  show.  They  represent  one  form  of  pro- 
phetic utterance,  approaching  the  rhythmical  con- 
struction of  such  compositions  as  the  so-called 
blessings  of  Jacob  and  of  Moses,  w^hich  belong  to 
the  same  literary  period.  In  general  the  prophets 
whose  productions  have  come  down  to  us  were 
declaimers  rather  than  writers,  and  their  style 
was  usually  calculated  to  excite  and  to  inflame. 
It  had  a  thrilling  cadence,  which  often  rose  into  a 
rhythmical  swing  and  came  down  in  ringing  blows 
like  a  hammer.  They  sometimes  resorted  to  de- 
vices for  attracting  attention  which  were  more  ef- 
fective than  dignified,  and  used  language  that  was 
more  forcible  than  elegant.     No  w^riters  or  speakers 


THE  EARLIEST  ''PROPHECIES''  U3 

ever  aimed  more  at  effect,  and  doubtless  effect  is 
what  writing  and  speaking  are  for. 

The  first  of  these  clarion  voices  was  raised  in 
the  Noii;hern  Kingdom  about  800  B.C.  by  Amos, 
the  rude  herdsman  of  Tekoa.  The  material  pros- 
perity under  Jeroboam  II.  had  produced  pride  and 
luxury,  with  the  oppression  of  the  poor  by  the 
rich  and  lack  of  integrity  in  the  councils  of  the 
rulers.  Depredations  were  common  on  the  bor- 
ders, the  slave-trade  flourished,  and  idolatrous 
worship  prevailed,  with  little  distinction  of  gods. 
Though  himself  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  this 
fervid  champion  of  Jehovah  found  the  field  for  his 
fierce  denunciations  and  his  impressive  warnings 
in  the  northern  realm,  where  a  priest  at  Bethel 
charged  him  with  seeking  to  incite  insurrection. 
What  is  specially  to  be  noted  here  is  the  clear- 
ness with  which  the  higher  conception  of  Jehovah 
as  a  universal  God  of  justice  appears,  the  scorn 
of  sacrifices  and  ceremonies  that  is  expressed,  and 
the  first  menaces  of  destruction  of  the  nation  for 
its  sins,  accompanied  by  faith  in  its  ultimate  res- 
toration and  glory.  The  vision  of  Amos  did  not 
extend  beyond  the  neighboring  nations  and  those 
long  associated  with  the  history  of  his  people. 
He  apparently  did  not  discern  the  impending 
shadow  of  Assyria,  but  his  prescience  told  him 
that  the  course   Israel   was   pursuing  meant  de- 


144  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

struction,  because  Jehovali  was  the  God  of  right- 
eousness. Of  about  the  same  time  and  in  much 
the  same  tone  is  the  "  prophecy  "  which  bears  the 
name  of  "  Joel,"  a  name  that  is  probably  sym- 
bolical, like  that  of  "  Obadiah,"  "  servant  of 
Jehovah."  What  is  called  the  vision  of  Obadiah, 
and  another  fragment  embedded  in  the  Book  of 
Zechariah  as  chapter  ix.,  are  generally  credited 
to  this  same  period. 

A  generation  later,  when  Israel  was  giving  way 
before  the  irresistible  pressure  of  Assyria,  Hosea 
took  up  the  strain  of  the  herdsman  of  Tekoa,  but 
in  still  more  threatening  tones.  He  painted  the 
iniquities  and  dangers  of  the  time  in  the  darkest 
colors  and  portrayed  the  relations  of  the  people  to 
Jehovah  in  bold  figures  of  speech.  He  was  the 
herald  of  the  downfall  of  Ephraim  and  of  the  dis- 
asters of  Judah,  but  he  had  faith  in  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  united  Israel. 


XXV 
THE  GEEAT  ISAIAH 

While  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the  Northern 
Kingdom  and  the  events  which  were  hastening 
toward  its  destruction  called  forth  these  alarming 
and  warning  voices,  there  was  a  more  quiescent 
spirit  in  Judah.  So  far  as  there  was  what  may  be 
called  an  ecclesiastical  influence  in  the  govern- 
ment, it  had  been  exercised  by  the  priests,  and 
the  kings  were  mildly  favorable  to  the  national 
religion  centred  at  Jerusalem,  though  still  tolerant 
of  other  worship  in  the  "  high  places."  But  there 
seems  to  have  been  a  growing  school  of  the  pro- 
phetic spirit  in  the  purlieus  of  the  temple,  which 
was  destined  to  give  the  fullest  and  highest  utter- 
ance to  the  new  theology.  In  this  was  nourished 
the  greatest  genius  of  Hebrew  literatui*e  and  of  the 
Hebrew  faith,  the  prophet  Isaiah.  He,  more  than 
any  other,  was  the  creator  of  Judaism,  and  in  its 
bosom  he  planted  the  seeds  of  Christianity. 

Clear-sighted  and  ardent,  master  of  the  knowl- 
edge  of    his   time    and   of   the   resources   of  his 

language,  he  displayed  a  power  of  expression  un- 
10 


Ui5  THE  JEWISH  S  CHIP  TUBES 

excelled  in  any  literature.  The  unplastic  and  in- 
flexible Hebrew  tongue  he  wrought  to  a  tension 
and  a  power  of  vibration  that  has  made  it  ring 
through  the  ages.  He  exalted  still  higher  the 
conception  of  Jehovah,  as  not  only  the  God  of 
Israel,  but  as  the  power  that  controlled  the  des- 
tinies of  all  nations,  and  he  mingled  in  the  char- 
acter for  the  first  time  the  tender  qualities  of  the 
father  of  humanity,  which  w^ere  to  become  pre- 
dominant in  the  teachings  of  Jesus. 

Though  the  introductory  note  of  a  compiler 
makes  the  activity  of  Isaiah  begin  under  Uzziah, 
it  seems  to  have  been  awakened  during  the  reign 
of  Ahaz,  who  had  relapsed  from  the  comparative 
fidelity  of  his  fathers,  and  under  whose  reign  idol- 
atry flourished  and  corruption  pervaded  society 
and  enfeebled  the  government.  There  was  noth- 
ing exceptional  in  Isaiah's  claiming  to  speak  by 
direct  inspiration  of  Jehovah,  and  using  devices 
to  enforce  the  divine  sanction  of  his  utterances. 
Most  of  the  prophets  did  that,  even  those  who 
were  denounced  as  false  and  overborne  by  the 
dominant  element.  The  one  that  prevailed  was 
acGej)ted  as  true,  and  the  discomfited  Avas  by  his 
discomfiture  proved  to  be  false. 

The  earliest  of  Isaiah's  productions  that  have 
come  down  to  us  are  fervid  denunciations  of  the 
iniquities  of  the  time  of  Ahaz,   of  wealth,  pride. 


THE  GREAT  ISAIAH  I47 

luxury,  and  the  vainglory  of  material  prosperity, 
which  always  excited  the  ire  of  these  stern  Puri- 
tans of  Israel.  He  dwelt  witli  a  certain  pathos 
upon  what  Jehovah  had  done  for  his  people,  upon 
their  manifold  perversities  toward  him,  and  upon 
the  terrible  consequences  of  their  conduct,  but 
always  he  saw  with  unswerving  faith  the  saving  of 
a  purified  remnant,  the  restoration  of  power  and 
glory  at  Jerusalem,  under  the  rule  of  the  offspring 
of  David. 

When,  a  few  years  before  the  fall  of  Samaria, 
Pekah  of  Israel  and  Eezin  of  Syria  were  threaten- 
ing Judah,  and  the  menace  of  Assyria  was  impend- 
ing over  them,  Isaiah  began  to  assume  a  role  that 
was  more  and  more  political,  and  constantly  di- 
rected by  the  theocratic  spirit.  He  threatened 
Ej^hraim  and  Damascus  with  ruin,  and  attempted 
to  dissuade  Ahaz  from  any  parleying  with  the 
king  of  Assyria.  He  promised  deliverance  at  the 
hand  of  Jehovah,  and  the  triumph  of  Sion  in  the 
days  to  come.  The  prophet  seemed  almost  to 
gloat  over  the  fate  of  Samaria,  and  predicted  the 
destruction  of  Tyre  and  the  subjection  of  Assyria 
and  Egypt.  His  visions  in  that  regard  were  never 
fulfilled,  and  those  which  related  to  his  own  land 
were  equally  far  from  the  realization  of  which  he 
and  the  other  prophets  dreamed.  Contemporary 
with  this  part  of   Isaiah's  career,  and  associated 


148  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTUMES 

with  it,  was  that  of  Micah,  who  displayed  the  same 
ardent  spirit. 

A  few  years  before  the  fall  of  Samaria  Hezekiah 
had  come  to  the  throne  of  Judah,  but  at  the  begin- 
ning of  his  reign  there  Avas  no  material  change 
from  the  policy  of  his  father.  But  the  tremendous 
crisis  of  the  Northern  Kingdom  had  a  far-reaching 
effect.  During  the  long  siege  there  was  a  feverish 
apprehension  that  the  next  sweep  of  the  Assyrian 
host  would  be  over  the  hills  and  plains  of  Judah. 
The  effort  of  the  two  tireless  prophets  was  rather 
to  fan  than  to  allay  this  fear.  Assyria  was  the 
scourge  of  the  Almighty,  employed  to  punish  Is- 
rael for  its  sins,  and  the  only  way  to  avert  from 
Jerusalem  the  fate  of  Samaria  was  to  bow  to  the 
will  of  Jehovah  and  rely  npon  him  for  safety. 
There  was  a  practical  side  to  this  policy,  which 
meant  submission  to  the  nominal  sovereignty  of 
the  conquering  empire  of  the  East. 

Hezekiah  continued  to  pay  tribute  to  the  king 
of  Assyria,  and  the  conquests  which  Sargon,  who 
had  become  the  successor  of  Shalmanesar,  made 
upon  the  borders  of  his  realm  accrued  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  King  of  Judah.  Some  of  the  cities 
that  had  belonged  to  the  Northern  nation  were 
added  to  his  domain,  and  gains  were  made 
on  the  west  from  the  Philistines.  There  was  a 
party  at  Jerusalem  that  favored  resistance  to  the 


THE  GREAT  ISAIAH  149 

Assyrian  domination  and  alliance  with  Egypt,  at 
the  head  of  which  was  Shebna,  one  of  the  king's 
officers.  Against  this  policy  Isaiah  inveighed 
with  all  his  force,  and  with  such  effect  that  Shebna 
was  superseded  by  the  candidate  of  the  party  of 
submission,  which  was  another  political  triumph 
for  the  prophets,  who  thereby  gained  an  almost" 
complete  ascendancy  over  the  king. 


XXVI 

EELIGIOUS  AND   LITERARY   ACTIVITY 

For  some  years  the  Assyrian  domination  was 
little  felt,  except  as  a  protection,  and  there  was  a 
period  of  prosperity  and  progress.  The  govern- 
ment was  more  effectively  organized,  the  military 
system  was  strengthened,  and  great  improvements 
were  made  at  Jerusalem.  The  temple  and  its 
service  were  rehabilitated  to  some  extent,  but  it 
was  still  little  more  than  a  royal  chapel.  The 
priesthood  was  a  subordinate  factor,  while  the  in- 
fluence of  the  prophets  was  predominant.  Under 
that  influence  and  the  impress  of  recent  events  a 
great  advance  was  made  in  the  religious  concep- 
tions of  the  time.  Jehovah  absorbed  the  attributes 
of  Eloliim  more  and  more,  and  expanded  into  the 
God  of  the  Universe,  who  used  the  nations  of  the 
earth  to  work  out  his  own  purposes.  But  Israel 
was  the  peculiar  object  of  his  affection  and  care, 
and  it  was  through  Israel  that  his  purposes  were 
to  be  effected.  By  his  chastisements  it  was  to  be 
purged;  a  purified  remnant  would  constitute  the 
nation  under  a  king  of  the  house  of  David,  who 


RELIGIOUS  AND  LITERARY  ACTIVITY  151 

would  reign  in  justice  and  peace,  and  the  nations 
of  the  earth  would  be  brought  into  subjection  to 
that  glorified  kingdom  with  its  seat  of  power  on 
Mount  Sion. 

Meantime,  while  these  prophetic  dreams  were  in 
abeyance,  Hezekiah  did  much  to  purify  the  wor- 
ship of  the  day,  expelling  idolatrous  practices  not 
only  from  the  temple  but  from  the  shrines  in  other 
parts  of  his  kingdom.  In  the  reaction  against  im- 
ages and  symbols,  he  caused  the  Nehustan,  or 
brazen  serpent,  which  had  so  long  been  considered 
a  visible  token  of  divinity,  to  be  destroyed.  Jeru- 
salem increased  in  importance  and  was  regarded 
more  as  the  centre  of  national  worship  as  well  as 
of  national  power. 

The  prophets  were  ever  jealous  of  the  gro"wiih 
of  secular  power  and  of  wealth,  as  productive  of 
that  pride  and  self-sufficiency  that  were  so  obnox- 
ious to  Jehovah,  and  of  those  sins  and  iniquities 
that  seduced  men  from  obedience  to  him.  There 
was  a  constant  decrying  of  riches  and  luxury,  and 
secular  power  was  regarded  as  almost  synonymous 
with  oppression.  The  poor  and  lowly,  the  humble 
and  meek,  if  not  regarded  as  necessarily  righteous, 
were  represented  as  virtually  the  only  class  capa- 
ble of  righteousness,  or  of  a  proper  submission  to 
the  divine  will.  This  became  almost  an  essential 
doctrine  of  early  Judaism,  and  was  still  more  clear- 


153  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

\j  developed  in  primitive  Christianity.  It  has  al- 
ways been  in  some  sort  the  leaven  in  that  perpetual 
ferment  known  as  socialism. 

The  reign  of  Hezekiah  was  no  less  remarkable 
for  the  literary  activity  which  characterized  it.  In 
fact  the  power  of  the  Hebrew  language  and  the 
vitality  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  literature  reached 
its  climax  at  about  this  time,  say  seven  centuries 
before  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era.  After 
the  capture  of  Samaria  many  of  the  lettered  men 
of  the  Northern  Kingdom  took  refuge  at  Jerusalem, 
and  brought  with  them  such  treasures  as  had  been 
saved  from  the  wreck.  The  period  of  peace  and 
prosperity  saw  much  of  what  we  now  have  of  the 
Jewish  scriptures  put  in  substantially  the  form, 
though  not  in  the  arrangement,  in  which  we  have 
it.  The  two  versions  of  the  early  history  of  the 
people,  known  to  critics  as  the  Jehovist  and  the  Elo- 
hist,  were  imperfectly  welded  into  one.  The  shorter 
and  later  one,  first  produced  at  Jerusalem,  appears 
to  have  been  used  as  the  basis,  but  was  i^ieced  out 
with  large  extracts  from  the  other,  and  sometimes 
new  material  was  plainly  used  in  the  process  of 
soldering  together  the  parts.  The  old  antipathies 
had  been  softened  by  the  calamities  of  Ephraim, 
the  full  pride  of  Judah  was  not  yet  developed,  and 
before  the  later  "  harmonizers  "  got  to  work  upon 
this    material  it   had  assumed  an   intractable,  if 


RELIGIOUS  AND  LITERARY  ACTIVITY  153 

not  a  sacred,  quality  that  preyented  obliteration 
of  the  incongruities  that  betray  its  varied  origin. 
Parts  of  both  accounts  of  the  creation  and  the  del- 
uge were  used,  and  there  are  many  repetitions  and 
inconsistencies,  and  some  contradictions,  which 
show  that  little  pains  and  less  skill  was  displayed 
in  the  process,  which  may  be  better  described  as 
patching  than  as  welding  or  blending.  The  fuller 
account  of  the  Exodus  seems  to  have  been  pieced 
out  with  incidents  from  the  shorter  one,  and  both 
the  book  of  the  covenant  of  the  Northern  version 
and  the  decalogue  of  the  Southern  were  incorpo- 
rated. The  account  was  carried  down  to  the  con- 
quest and  partition  of  the  land  under  Joshua,  but 
the  development  of  the  law,  contained  mainly  in 
Deuteronomy  and  Leviticus,  was  much  later,  when 
the  narratives  were  expanded  to  fit  it. 

It  was  doubtless  at  this  time  also  that  a  continu- 
ation of  the  popular  history  was  midertaken,  out 
of  the  material  supplied  chiefly  by  the  "  Book  of 
Jasher  "  and  the  "  Wars  of  Jehovah,"  and  by  the 
genealogies  collected  at  Jerusalem.  From  this 
came  the  substances  of  the  account  of  the  Judges, 
perhaps  the  story  of  Kuth,  and  the  narratives  con- 
nected with  the  first  setting  up  of  the  kingdom  con- 
tained in  the  Books  of  Samuel.  No  doubt  also 
some  of  the  annals  were  put  in  form  that  Avere 
afterward  drawn  upon  for  the  more  strictly  histori- 


15*  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

cal  books.  The  literary  coterie  that  surrounded 
the  king  unquestionably  made  a  collection  of  the 
popular  proverbs  and  wise  sayings  that  had  ac- 
cumulated since  the  days  of  Solomon,  many  of 
which  were  attributed  to  that  monarch,  and  made 
considerable  additions  to  them.  A  collection 
seems  likewise  to  have  been  made  of  the  poems, 
mainly  with  a  religious  turn,  but  some  rather 
historical  than  devotional,  which  constituted  what 
became  known  as  "  the  Psalms."  This  form  of 
composition  may  have  begun  in  the  time  of  David, 
and  his  name  was  doubtless  associated  with  the 
first  collection  of  them,  as  it  was  with  subsequent 
extensions  of  the  collection,  but  it  is  impossible  to 
prove  his  actual  authorship  of  any  one  piece,  and 
very  few  can  be  plausibly  attributed  to  him.  A 
considerable  number  were  probably  written  in  the 
time  of  Hezekiah,  especially  of  those  with  a  more 
hopeful  and  exultant  tone,  for  that  enlightened 
monarch  seems  to  have  given  every  encouragement 
to  letters,  and  the  Hebrew  language  then  reached 
its  height  of  fruitful  and  varied  expression.  Com- 
petent critics  ascribe  the  Book  of  Job  to  the  same 
period,  largely  on  internal  evidence  derived  from 
the  language  and  the  ideas,  though  the  latter  ap- 
pear quite  as  characteristic  of  a  somewhat  later 
time. 


XXVII 

A  CKISIS  FOB  JUDAH 

DuEiNG  the  period  of  tranquillity  that  followed 
the  terror  of  the  Assyrian  conquests  and  the  sub- 
mission of  Judah  to  the  overpowering  empire,  there 
was  a  constant  weakening  of  the  authority  of  Sar- 
gon,  which  encouraged  revolt  among  the  tribu- 
taries. In  this  spirit  of  revolt  and  resistance 
Hezekiah  shared,  under  the  encouragement  of  the 
secular  party,  still  headed  by  Shebna.  He  ceased 
paying  tribute,  and  continued  negotiations  for 
alliance  with  Egypt  and  Ethiopia.  Against  this 
policy  Isaiah  protested  with  all  his  energy,  and 
threatened  destruction  as  its  consequence.  He 
advocated  non-resistance  to  Assyria,  which  was  for 
the  time  being  the  agent  of  Jehovah,  but  which 
would  in  its  time  be  destroyed,  when  the  purified 
remnant  of  God's  people  would  triumph.  When 
Sargon  was  succeeded  by  his  more  vigorous  and 
aggressive  son,  Sennacherib,  a  vacillating  policy 
became  perilous.  Sennacherib  set  out  to  reduce 
to  submission  his  father's  rebellious  tributaries  in 
Syria,   Judah,    Philistia,    and   Phoenicia.      There 


156  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

was  a  sharp  conflict  between  the  secular  and  re- 
ligious parties  at  Jerusalem,  and  the  fierce  decla- 
mations of  Isaiah  carried  the  day  for  the  latter. 

The  prophet  denounced  all  military  preparations 
for  resistance,  and  was  especially  fierce  against 
alliance  with  Egypt.  His  imperative  mandate  for 
complete  reliance  on  Jehovah  seemed  like  treach- 
ery to  his  country,  but  it  was  really  far-sighted 
prudence,  for  resistance  to  the  Assyrian  power  was 
hopeless,  and  would  probably  have  brought  upon 
Jerusalem  the  fate  of  Samaria.  But  submission 
was  humiliating  and  costly.  It  was  forced  at  the 
very  gates  of  the  capital  by  the  Assyrian  army, 
and  Sennacherib  exacted  such  indemnity  that  the 
temple  and  the  palace  were  not  only  despoiled  once 
more  of  their  treasures,  but  stripped  of  their  most 
precious  adornments. 

These  events,  which  implied  a  deep  humiliation 
for  the  nation  and  a  triumph  for  the  prophets  that 
could  hardly  have  been  more  than  half-gratifying, 
were  followed  by  one  of  those  extraordinary  inci- 
dents which  in  a  few  recorded  instances  have  ap- 
peared to  turn  the  whole  course  of  history  as  upon 
a  pivot,  and  it  made  the  triumph  of  Isaiah  seem 
complete.  It  is  not  unnatural  that  a  superstitious 
delusion  became  associated  with  it,  which  the 
prophet  probably  did  not  discourage,  and  may 
have  shared,  and  which  produced  a  curious  legend 


A   CRISIS  FOR  JUDAH  157 

cutting  sharply  into  a  record  purporting  to  be  his- 
torical. 

For  some  reason  not  made  clear,  perhaps  dis- 
trust of  Hezekiah's  loyalty,  Sennacherib,  who 
was  becoming  hard  pressed  by  his  powerful  ene- 
mies of  the  South,  decided,  after  all,  to  reduce 
Jerusalem  into  complete  subjection  before  with- 
drawing his  armies  for  the  more  serious  conflict 
with  Egypt  and  Ethiopia.  While  the  movements 
for  this  purpose  were  going  on,  Isaiah,  doubtless 
knowing  of  the  critical  pressure  upon  Sennacherib's 
forces  elsewhere,  rose  to  a  sublime  height  of  con- 
fidence and  prophecy,  promising  deliverance  for 
Sion  and  discomfiture  for  Assyria.  Sure  enough, 
in  the  night  that  part  of  the  Assyrian  host  which 
was  encamped  against  Jerusalem  was  suddenly 
withdrawn  to  join  with  the  other  forces  and  meet 
the  army  of  Ethiopia,  which  was  advancing  under 
Tirhakah  to  cut  off  Sennacherib  from  his  own  do- 
main. The  army  of  the  Assyrian  monarch  was 
defeated  and  cut  to  pieces  on  the  confines  of 
Egypt,  and  he  retired  from  his  overwhelming  de- 
feat in  that  quarter  to  Nineveh,  and  gave  up  his 
career  of  conquest.  Though  he  was  finally  assas- 
sinated, it  was  only  after  a  prosperous  reign  of 
many  years. 

The  disorder  of  the  suddenly  abandoned  camp 
near  Jerusalem,  and  rumors  which  speedily  came 


158  THE  JE^VISH  SCRIPTURES 

of  the  slaughter  of  Sennacherib's  army,  led  to  the 
belief  that  Jehovah  had  interposed  to  save  his 
people,  and  the  avenging  angel  of  the  Lord  had 
slain  the  Assyrian  host  in  the  night.  It  was  a 
marvellous  triumph  for  the  prophet,  and  the 
writers  of  later  times  accepted  the  legend  as  his- 
tory, and  even  connected  with  it  the  assassination 
of  Sennacherib  at  Nineveh,  though  that  happened 
years  afterward,  and  had  no  relation  to  the  deliver- 
ance of  Judah. 

This  critical  turn  in  the  history  of  Judah  oc- 
curred probably  in  the  very  last  year  of  the  eighth 
century  before  the  Christian  era  (701  B.C.),  and  the 
reign  of  Hezekiah  continued  four  or  five  years 
longer.  It  was  a  period  of  restored  prosperity  and 
power  for  the  kingdom,  and  the  influence  of  the 
prophets  continued  in  the  ascendant.  In  the  great 
double  empire  of  the  Mesopotamian  region  the 
power  of  Nineveh  was  sinking  and  that  of  Babylon 
was  rising.  The  Southern  focus  was  drawing  force 
from  the  Northern  and  threatening  it  Avith  eclipse. 
Merodach-Baladan  of  Babylon  sought  alliance  with 
the  nations  of  which  Assyria  had  made  enemies, 
and  sent  to  the  King  of  Judah  envoys  who  were 
received  with  a  friendliness  and  trust  that  excited 
the  disapproval  of  Isaiah.  The  clear-sighted 
prophet  saw  danger  in  confiding  in  this  great  for- 
eign power,  which  was  liable  at  any  time  to  enter 


A    cms  IS  FOR  JUDAH  159 

upon  a  career  of  conquest  on  its  own  account,  and 
his  prudence  was  mingled  with  that  abiding  faith 
in  a  reliance  upon  Jehovah  Avhich  admitted  of  no 
compromise.  The  king  was  submissive  to  the  re- 
buke of  his  great  counsellor,  and  his  sudden  illness 
and  temporary  recovery  were  used  to  impress  upon 
him  once  more  his  dependence  upon  the  real  ruler 
of  Israel's  destiny.  He  was  made  content  with  the 
assurance  of  peace  and  safety  for  the  remnant  of 
his  own  days.  There  is  in  the  account  of  these 
final  incidents  of  his  reign  plain  evidence  of  the 
color  given  to  them  by  the  pious  writers  w^ho  made 
up  the  record. 


XXVIII 

A   KELAPSE 

Before  tlie  death  of  Hezekiali  (about  696  B.C.) 
there  were  signs  of  reaction  against  the  stern  puri- 
tanism  established  under  the  teachings  and  influ- 
ence of  the  prophets  at  Jerusalem,  which  had 
become  somewhat  intolerant  and  irksome,  and  that 
reaction  ran  through  the  long  reign  of  Manasseh, 
the  short  one  of  his  son  Anion,  and  the  first  years 
of  Josiah,  a  period  of  perhaps  seventy-five  years 
in  all.  Manasseh  came  to  the  throne  at  the  age  of 
twelve,  and  was  doubtless  under  the  control  of  his 
mother  Hephzibah.  There  are  many  evidences 
that  the  women  of  the  royal  family  and  of  the  aris- 
tocratic class  generally  had  a  proclivity  for  the 
pagan  worship  of  the  time,  and  an  aversion  to  the 
stern  doctrines  of  the  prophets,  who  were  wont  to 
charge  them  with  frivolity  and  profligacy.  At  all 
events  there  was  a  frightful  relapse  into  idolatrous 
practices  and  into  the  vices  and  abuses  that  accom- 
panied them.  The  long  reign  of  Manasseh  was 
looked  back  upon  by  the  scribes  of  a  later  time  as 
filled  with  abominations.     In  their  brief  but  exag- 


A  RELAPSE  161 

gerated  references  to  it  they  painted  it  in  tlie 
blackest  colors,  and  could  only  compare  it  with  the 
awful  days  of  Ahab  at  Samaria.  The  priestly 
writer  of  the  Chronicles,  intent  upon  redeeming 
the  house  of  David  from  the  reproach,  represents 
the  king  as  being  carried  away  captive  for  his  sins 
and  brought  to  repentance  and  restored,  but  there 
is  no  historical  basis  for  the  statement.  It  is  in 
virtual  contradiction  of  the  account  in  Kings, 
against  all  probability,  and  inconsistent  with  all 
other  records.  That  an  Assyrian  king  should 
carry  his  captive  to  Babylon  at  that  time  is  in  it- 
self a  manifest  absurdity. 

Manasseh  fell  under  control  of  the  secular  party 
and  reverted  to  the  tolerant  and  easy-going  policy 
of  Ahaz.  As  a  result  the  worship  of  Baal  and  Ash- 
teroth  revived,  heathen  altars  were  rehabilitated 
in  the  high  places,  and  even  invaded  the  precincts 
of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem.  The  grossest  of  the 
old  Canaanite  rites  appear  to  have  been  restored, 
and  if  the  Judean  writers  are  to  be  believed  the 
smoke  of  human  sacrifice  rose  again  in  the  valley 
of  the  sons  of  Hinnom.  The  oppression  of  Assy- 
rian power  was  no  longer  felt,  and  there  was  an 
era  of  peace  and  material  prosperity,  with  the 
usual  result  of  enervating  luxury  and  a  benumbing 
of  the  sense  of  justice.     The  anavim  and  hasidim, 

or  the  meek  and  lowly,  who  had  acquired  a  kind 
11 


ir.3  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

of  sacred  character  and  special  consideration  under 
Hezekiah,  were  without  influence  and  suffered  at 
the  hands  of  the  arrogant.  Their  Avails  have  come 
through  the  centuries  in  some  of  the  pathetic 
psalms.  Divination  and  sorcery  and  all  the  old 
evils  sprang  up  anew,  and  it  almost  seemed  as 
though  Jehovah  had  forgotten  his  people. 

The  single  prophetic  voice  then  raised  was  that 
of  Nahum,  and  it  lacked  the  tone  that  had  become 
familiar  in  the  time  of  national  trouble.  Nahum 
had  nothing  to  say  of  the  backsliding  of  the  people 
or  the  penalties  they  were  in  danger  of  incurring, 
but  he  railed  fiercely  against  his  country's  power- 
ful enemy,  and  threatened  destruction  to  Nineveh. 
Assyria  was  losing  power,  and  was  not  only  yield- 
ing before  the  ascendancy  of  Babylon,  but  was  be- 
set by  new  enemies  from  the  North,  and  overshad- 
owed by  the  menace  of  a  Scythian  invasion  and 
the  rising  combination  of  Medes  and  Persians. 
Nineveh  was  indeed  doomed,  as  Nahum  boldly 
assumed.  In  the  mouth  of  this  prophet  Jehovah 
became  again  a  Deity  of  wrath,  hatred,  and  ven- 
geance. There  are  none  of  the  diviner  touches  of 
Isaiah's  God,  and  no  visions  of  the  future  kingdom 
of  righteousness  and  peace  for  a  purified  remnant 
of  Israel. 

The  death  of  Manasseh,  after  fifty-five  years  of 
what  seemed  like  prosperous  wickedness,  brought 


A   RELAPSE  163 

no  change.  His  son  Amon,  after  a  reign  of  two 
years,  was  assassinated  as  a  result  of  a  court  con- 
spiracy, which  produced  a  popular  uprising  and 
the  slaughter  of  the  conspirators.  This  brought 
Josiah  to  the  throne,  but  as  he  was  only  eight 
years  old  and  under  the  direction  of  his  mother, 
Jedidah,  the  same  influences  continued  to  rule  for 
some  years. 

But  another  great  crisis  in  the  fortunes  of  Is- 
rael was  at  hand.  The  genuine  spirit  of  proph- 
ecy awoke  again  at  last.  The  first  to  give  it  voice 
was  Zephaniah,  who  once  more  Avitli  stern  wrath 
assailed  the  iniquities  of  the  time  in  the  name 
of  Jehovah.  His  accents  were  harsh,  as  he  threat- 
ened with  destruction  not  only  the  enemies  of 
Israel,  but  the  "  rebellious  and  polluted "  city, 
whose  sanctuary  was  profaned.  But  the  voice  of 
hope  and  promise  was  raised  again  also.  The 
nations  were  to  be  brought  together  only  to  be 
scourged,  and  the  purified  remnant  would  yet  be 
restored  and  the  Lord  would  be  their  king.  But 
Zephaniah  was  the  forerunner  of  a  greater  than 
he.  The  portentous  figure  of  Jeremiah  was  about 
to  come  upon  the  scene. 


XXIX 
JEEEMIAH   AND   A  KEFOEMATION 

The  circumstances  attending  the  conversion 
which  the  young  king  underwent  are  a  matter  of 
conjecture,  but  in  the  light  of  the  influences  sur- 
rounding him  conjecture  becomes  almost  certainty. 
Before  Josiah  had  become  of  age,  not  only  was  the 
startling  voice  of  Zephaniah  raised  to  give  warn- 
ing that  the  gross  iniquities  of  the  time  would 
bring  a  terrible  penalty,  but  out  of  a  little  circle  of 
priests  at  Anatoth,  just  north  of  Jerusalem,  came 
a  champion  of  reformation  possessed  with  the 
spirit  that  makes  revolutions.  When  Jeremiah 
began  his  denunciations  and  warnings  it  was 
among  his  own  kin,  but  they  excited  such  hostil- 
ity that  he  turned  his  back  upon  Anatoth  with 
curses  and  betook  himself  to  the  centre  of  agita- 
tion at  Jerusalem.  There  he  began  his  inex- 
orable crusade  against  the  existing  order  of  things. 

He  had  not  the  intellectual  power,  the  mighty 
rhetoric,  the  literary  force  of  Isaiah,  and  the 
language  of  Judah  had  lost  something  of  its  gleam 
and    temper.     But    the    soul    of    Jeremiah    had   a 


JEREMIAH  AND  A   REFORMATION  165 

consuming  ardor,  a  fervid  devotion  to  the  great 
Jehovah,  and  intense  hatred,  not  only  of  wrong, 
but  of  wrong-doers,  as  they  appeared  to  his  eyes, 
and  a  courage  and  obstinacy  that  never  flinched 
or  wavered.  His  faith  in  the  power  and  the 
justice  of  Israel's  God  was  absohite  and  unques- 
tioning, and  he  probably  never  doubted  that  his 
own  deep  and  burning  convictions  were  stirred 
within  him  by  the  overpowering  Deity,  or  that 
their  utterance  was  inspired  by  him.  That  was 
the  prophet's  unvarying  claim,  and  he  met  with 
scorn  and  derision  any  counsel  that  difi'ered  from 
his  own.  God,  interpreted  through  his  tempera- 
ment, lacked  some  of  the  gi-acious  aspects  of  the 
God  of  Isaiah.  Jeremiah  was  a  fanatic — fierce, 
uncompromising,  intolerant — with  a  veritable  gen- 
ius for  fanaticism  and  a  mission  to  fulfil  that  re- 
quired it. 

When  this  austere  figure  appeared  in  the  streets 
of  Jerusalem  and  raised  that  piercing  voice  against 
the  abuses  of  the  time,  it  came  like  a  "  herald  of 
dismay."  There  were  disquieting  movements  in 
the  great  powers  to  the  East,  at  whose  mercy  little 
Judah  always  lay  in  the  pathway  to  the  sea,  and 
there  were  rumors  of  terrible  hordes  away  at  the 
North  threatening  to  sweep  down  upon  declining 
Assyria.  As  Jeremiah  depicted  in  cutting  accents 
the   sins   of   Israel,  the  idolatry  and   corruption 


166  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

that  prevailed,  the  wrong  and  injustice  that  were 
practised  upon  the  poor  and  helpless,  and  all  the 
multitudinous  evils  of  a  degenerate  age,  he  drew  a 
terrible  indictment  against  the  people  for  diso- 
bedience, ingratitude,  and  outrage  toward  their 
God,  whose  wrath  had  been  accumulating  and 
was  about  to  break  forth.  He  pictured  the  terror 
and  desolation  that  would  befall  them  when  the 
impending  scourge  should  fall. 

Nothing  could  silence  that  terrific  voice,  and  the 
prophet  omitted  no  device  that  would  give  his 
words  a  startling  effect.  Nor  was  he  alone.  He 
was  seconded  by  Habakkuk,  only  a  few  of  whose 
ardent  utterances  have  come  down  to  us,  and  there 
are  glimpses  of  a  prophetess,  Huldah,  in  sympathy 
with  the  reforming  element,  while  there  are  indica- 
tions that  a  similar  spirit  prevailed  in  the  priest- 
hood of  the  temple.  It  is  evident  that  before  the 
influences  of  this  growing  agitation  the  old  secular 
party  was  forced  to  give  way,  and  the  youthful 
sovereign  threw  himself,  perhaps  in  alarm,  into 
the  new  movement.  It  was  about  the  middle  of 
his  reign,  sometime  between  625  and  620  B.C.,  that 
the  sweeping  "  reforms  of  Josiah  "  were  under- 
taken. Not  only  were  all  the  appurtenances  of 
heathen  worship  cleared  out  of  the  temple  and  its 
precincts,  and  that  sanctuary  purged  and  purified, 
but  the  altars  and  images  of  the  "  high  places  " 


JEREMIAH  AND  A  REFORMATION-  157 

were  ruthlessly  destroyed.  These  places,  origi- 
nally devoted  to  the  worsliip  of  pagan  divinities, 
had  been  appropriated  to  the  uses  of  the  national 
religion,  and  there  was  a  constant  tendency  to  a 
mingling  of  rites  and  the  corruption  of  the  cult 
of  Jehovah. 

Previous  reforms  had  aimed  at  suppressing  the 
altars  and  idols  of  the  alien  gods,  but  Josiah 
went  to  the  root  of  the  matter  and  set  out  to 
destroy  the  "high  places"  altogether  as  places 
of  worship,  and  to  concentrate  the  devotions 
and  offerings  of  the  people  upon  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem.  Sorcery,  witchcraft,  and  all  forms  of 
divination  were  included  in  his  sweeping  aboli- 
tion, and  to  bring  the  valley  of  Hinnom  into  special 
detestation,  it  was  made  a  place  for  dumping  and 
burning  the  offal  of  the  city,  and  became  popularly 
known  as  Tophet.  That  the  uprooting  of  the  an- 
cient forms  of  worship  was  cnrried  into  the  prov- 
inces of  Samaria  would  seem  to  indicate  at  once 
that  the  remnant  of  the  Israelite  population  had 
regained  ascendancy  there,  and  that  the  Assyrian 
sovereignty  was  so  relaxed,  or  the  counteracting 
force  of  Babjdon  so  advanced,  as  to  permit  the 
king  of  Judah  to  exercise  a  subordinate  sway  in 
those  parts. 

The  suppression  of  the  old  provincial  shrines 
was    accompanied    by  measures   for   building  up 


1«8  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

the  temple  at  Jerusalem  as  the  centre  of  national 
worship  and  of  the  religious  interests  of  the 
people,  which  was  made  practicable  by  the  fact 
that  the  dominion  of  the  king  extended  in  no 
direction  more  than  forty  or  fifty  miles  from  the 
capital  at  this  time.  The  temple  was  repaired, 
its  appliances  and  treasures  were  replenished,  and 
the  priests  were  drawn  in  from  the  old  places  of 
worship  to  minister  in  its  service.  The  Levites, 
who  had  hitherto  been  scattered  over  the  country, 
were  gathered  into  a  distinct  class  of  servants 
and  attendants  of  the  temple,  and  a  beginning 
was  made  of  the  organization  so  highly  developed 
in  later  times.  Feasts  and  fasts  were  established, 
or  re-established,  and  the  passover  was  celebrated 
in  a  manner  to  impress  the  people  deeply  with  its 
significance. 

Another  important  factor  in  the  great  reform 
was  the  public  promulgation  of  the  law.  The 
book  that  had  been  formed  by  combining  the  two 
versions  of  the  primitive  history  of  the  people 
and  the  dealings  of  Jehovah  with  their  ancestors 
contained  both  the  ''  covenant  "  of  the  Northern 
version  and  the  ten  commandments  of  that  of 
Jerusalem,  which  constituted  the  beginning  of  a 
systematic  Torah.  This  volume  was  probably 
known  to  but  few  persons,  and  may  have  existed 
in  only  a  single  copy  in  the  keeping  of  the  priests 


JEREMIAH  AND  A  REFORMATION'  160 

of  tlie  temple.  The  people  at  large  knew  notliing 
of  the  "  laws  of  Moses  "  or  the  "  statutes  "  of  Jeho- 
vah. No  doubt  the!  need  was  felt  of  elaborating 
this  little  code  into  a  fuller  system  and  bringing 
its  requirements  to  bear  upon  the  people  and 
upon  the  rulers  of  the  people. 

There  can  be  little  question  that  this  task  was 
performed  within  that  coterie  of  priests  and 
prophets  which  was  at  the  centre  of  the  religious 
ferment  of  the  time,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  it  was  done  under  the  influence,  if  not  under 
the  direction,  of  Jeremiah.  The  work  has  the 
tone  and  spirit,  and  in  some  respects  the  language, 
of  his  teachings.  In  due  time  it  was  announced 
to  the  king  by  Shaphan  the  scribe,  that  Hilkiah, 
the  high-priest,  had  "  found  the  book  of  the  law 
in  the  house  of  the  Lord,"  and  Huldah,  the 
prophetess,  gave  it  her  sanction,  with  an  impres- 
sive warning  to  the  king  of  the  consequences  of 
disregarding  its  mandates.  Josiah  was  then 
scarcely  more  than  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and 
was  in  the  height  of  the  reforming  zeal  of  a  royal 
convert  with  autocratic  power.  So  the  priests 
and  prophets,  the  elders  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem, 
and  "  all  the  people,  both  great  and  small,"  were 
gathered  together,  and  the  king  in  person  pro- 
claimed the  new  law,  and  bound  himself  and  his 
subjects  to  its  observance.     It  constitutes  the  bulk 


170  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

of  the  book  known  as  Deuteronomy.  It  is  a 
fact  of  curious  interest  that  Jeremiah  is  not  men- 
tioned in  the  Book  of  Kings,  nor,  in  connection 
with  Josiah's  reign,  by  the  author  of  Chronicles, 
save  in  a  passing  reference  to  his  lamenting  that 
king's  death,  and  that  the  prophet's  recorded  dec- 
lamations precede  and  follow  the  period  of  the 
reforms.  Was  he  inactive  raid  silent  during  that 
period  ? 


XXX 

THE  SHADOW  OF  DOOM 

There  is  little  evidence  of  literary  activity  at 
tliis  time  outside  of  the  religious  movement, 
which  absorbed  the  energies  of  those  capable  of 
literary  production.  No  doubt  some  of  the  psalms 
were  written  in  the  days  of  Josiah,  but  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  distinguish  them.  The  material  used  in 
later  compilations  of  scripture  was  accumulating, 
but  some  of  it  was  afterward  so  woven  and 
patched  into  existing  books  that  it  cannot  be 
traced  to  its  source  with  certainty.  In  this  kind 
of  material  were  some  of  the  "  agadas  "  relating  to 
the  prophets,  and  probably  beginning  with  Moses 
in  that  character,  and  these  were  used  in  develop- 
ing and  embellishing  passages  of  history,  or  en- 
forcing lessons  of  experience,  in  a  manner  to 
deepen  the  obscurity  in  which  facts  were  already 
enveloped. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  seventh  century  B.C. 
the  clouds  of  doom  began  to  overshadow  the  little 
kingdom  of  Judah  and  to  threaten  Jerusalem  with 
the  fate  that  had  befallen  Samaria  something  over 


172  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

a  hundred  years  before.  After  reaching  the  height 
of  its  splendor  under  Assurbanipal — the  Sarda- 
napakis  of  the  Greek  historians — the  Ass^^ian  em- 
pire began  to  decline  before  the  rising  power  of 
Babylon.  The  Chaldean  race,  which  had  tradi- 
tions of  long  dominion  there  in  the  ages  of  a  dim 
antiquity,  had  recovered  its  ascendancy,  and  when, 
under  the  irresistible  pressure  of  the  Scythians 
and  the  Medes,  Nineveh  was  at  last  crushed  into 
the  melancholy  ruin  that  was  buried  in  after  cen- 
turies, Nabopolassar  extended  the  Chaldean  sway 
over  the  v/hole  Mesopotamian  region,  and  his  son, 
Nebuchadnezzar,  raised  Babylon  to  the  height  of 
grandeur  which  made  it  a  wonder  and  a  terror  to 
the  Eastern  world. 

Egypt,  the  rival  and  enemy  of  the  Assyrian 
power,  had  taken  advantage  of  its  waning  strength, 
and  under  the  energetic  rule  of  Psammeticus  and 
his  son  Necho,  had  entered  upon  a  new  career  of 
conquest  in  the  North.  In  the  year  609  B.C. 
Necho  landed  a  force  upon  the  coast  of  Phoenicia 
and  set  out  to  cross  the  old  provinces  of  Israel  in 
the  North  to  take  possession  of  Syria.  He  had 
no  quarrel  with  the  king  of  Jerusalem,  but  Josiah 
considered  himself  as  having  authority  over  the 
northern  provinces,  as  the  vassal  of  the  king  of 
Babylon,  who  now  asserted  his  sway  over  Assyria, 
against  which  Necho  was  advancing.     Accordingly 


THE  SHADOW  OF  DOOM  173 

he  interposed  his  puny  force  to  resist  the  Egyp- 
tian army,  and  was  easily  defeated  at  Megiddo, 
and  sent  home  dead  in  his  chariot,  while  Necho 
went  on  his  way. 

It  would  seem  like  a  hard  blow  to  those  who 
relied  on  their  faith  in  Jehovah  that  the  pious 
king  who  had  done  so  much  for  his  cause  was  cut 
oif  before  reaching  his  fortieth  year,  while  his  sin- 
ful grandfather  had  a  fairly  peaceful  and  prosper- 
ous reign  of  fifty-five  years.  But  that  and  the 
calamities  which  followed  were  attributed  to  the 
"provocations"  wherewith  Manasseh  had  pro- 
voked the  Lord  in  the  days  of  his  wicked  rule, 
and  to  the  evil  doings  of  the  kings  who  followed 
Josiah  — three  of  them  his  sons  and  one  his 
grandson— covering  the  score  of  years  before  the 
capture  and  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuch- 
adnezzar. In  reality  the  untimely  fate  of  Josiah 
was  fortunate  for  the  estimation  in  which  he  was 
to  be  held  in  after  times ;  for  his  successors  were 
forced  to  take  the  responsibility  for  defending,  or 
failing  to  defend,  their  realm  against  foreign  ag- 
gression, and  in  their  manner  of  meeting  it  con- 
sisted mainly  the  "evil"  which  they  did  "in  the 
sight  of  the  Lord."  They  refused  to  follow  the 
counsel  of  Jeremiah  and  to  submit  supinely,  ac- 
cepting meekly  the  chastisement  of  Jehovah,  and 
relying  implicitly  upon  him  to  save   them  from 


174  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

their  enemies.  Jeremiah  was  undoubtedly  right 
as  to  the  hopelessness  of  the  struggle  and  the  cer- 
tainty of  defeat  and  destruction.  His  direful  pre- 
dictions were  but  slightly  illumined  with  the  hope 
of  restoration  and  future  glory,  though  they  were 
somewhat  lightened  up  by  the  revision  which  they 
afterward  underwent. 

On  the  death  of  Josiah  one  of  his  younger 
sons,  Shallum,  was  proclaimed  king,  under  the 
name  of  Jehoahaz;  but,  returning  from  the  As- 
syrian expedition  three  months  later,  Necho  took 
occasion  to  depose  him  and  set  his  older  brother, 
Eliakim,  on  the  throne,  with  the  name  of  Jehoiakim, 
and  to  exact  a  heavy  tribute  from  the  kingdom 
for  presuming  to  interfere  with  his  operations. 
Jehoahaz  was  carried  off  to  Egypt,  and  Jehoiakim 
accepted  submission  to  that  country.  A  short 
period  of  ease  followed,  and  a  disposition  was 
shown  to  indulge  in  Egyptian  luxuries.  There 
was  a  relapse  from  the  religious  tension,  a  reac- 
tion toward  a  toleration  of  pagan  practices,  and  a 
slipping  into  the  iniquities  of  a  quiet  time.  Tlie 
poor  were  oppressed,  the  hands  of  justice  failed, 
and,  above  all,  the  influence  of  the  prophets  over 
the  government  gave  way  to  the  more  practical 
counsels  of  the  "■  wicked." 

This  roused  the  spirit  of  Jeremiah  to  a  veritable 
rage.     He  not    only  poured   out  his  wrath   upon 


THE  SHADOW  OF  DOOM-  175 

the  sins  of  the  time  and  upon  the  evil-doers,  but 
violently  denounced  the  king  and  his  advisers, 
and  predicted  ruin  and  destruction  to  Jerusalem 
and  slaughter  and  desolation  to  the  land  of  Judah. 
He  was  seconded  in  his  furious  onslaught  by 
others,  notably  Habakkuk,  and  a  certain  Uriah, 
who  paid  for  his  zeal  with  his  life.  Jeremiah 
himself  narrowly  escaped  the  wrath  of  the  prev- 
alent party.  After  the  battle  of  Karkemis,  or 
"  Carchemish,"  at  which  Nebuchadnezzar  routed 
the  army  of  Necho  and  destroyed  the  pretensions 
of  Egypt  in  the  Euphrates  region,  the  great  proph- 
et awoke  to  the  fact  that  the  king  of  Babylon 
was  the  "  scourge  of  the  Lord,"  with  which  He 
was  to  chastise  Israel,  and  he  never  wavered  in 
his  prediction  of  impending  disaster  and  his  de- 
nunciation of  resistance  as  not  only  useless  but 
sinful.  He  was  regarded  as  a  traitor  whose  un- 
curbed violence  of  speech  disheartened  the  people 
and  paralyzed  the  government,  but  nothing  could 
silence  him,  or  subdue  his  terrible  tones  of  men- 
ace, and  there  was  a  feeling  that  the  prophets  had 
a  certain  relation  to  Jehovah,  which  gave  them 
power  to  bring  to  pass  what  they  predicted. 

Jeremiah  launched  into  a  panegyric  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar upon  the  defeat  of  Egypt  and  revelled  in 
the  disasters  of  that  hated  land.  He  gloated  over 
the   coming    slaughter    and   desolation   of    other 


176  TEE  JEWISH  SCRIPT  CUES 

countries  that  had  been  enemies  of  Israel,  and 
were  liable  to  become  victims  of  the  new  con- 
queror. As  the  Babylonian  warrior  directed  his 
march  toward  Judah,  the  year  after  the  battle  of 
"  Carchemish,"  the  prophet  took  occasion  to  utter 
his  most  direful  predictions  of  disaster,  and  to 
have  his  previous  denunciations  and  warnings 
written  out  and  read  to  the  people  in  the  purlieus 
of  the  temple  and  the  palace  by  Baruch  the 
scribe.  This  excited  the  wrath  of  the  court,  and 
the  terrible  document  was  read  before  the  king, 
who,  in  his  anger,  cut  it  into  strips  and  threw  it 
in  the  fire.  The  prophet  had  it  rewritten,  and 
added  to  it  still  more  bitter  railing  against  the 
sovereign,  who  should  have  no  successor,  and 
whose  dead  body  should  be  "  cast  out  in  the  day 
to  the  heat,  and  in  tiio  night  to  the  frost." 


XXXI 

THE  CAKEYING  AWAY  TO  BABYLON 

Nebuchadnezzar  came  to  Jerusalem,  but  did 
not  inflict  the  predicted  chastisement.  Having 
forced  Jehoiakim  to  recognize  his  sovereignty, 
he  returned  to  Babylon  to  receive  the  title  of 
king,  his  father  having  just  died.  Judah  was 
left  for  three  or  four  years  a  constant  prey  to 
hostile  neighbors,  when  its  king  committed  the 
incredible  folly  of  rebelling  against  Babylon, 
whose  power  was  obviously  not  to  be  resisted 
with  any  hope  of  success.  During  this  short 
period  the  wrathful  mood  of  the  prophets  con- 
tinued against  those  who  relied  upon  military 
force  and  secular  power  to  escape  the  judgment 
of  Jehovah. 

The  fate  of  the  king  is  unknown,  but  in  598  B.C. 
he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Jeconiah,  whose  name 
was  thereupon  changed  to  Jehoiachin.  As  he  was 
only  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  hi&  reign  lasted 
only  three  months,  the  "evil  in  the  sight  of  the 
Lord  "  which  he  is  said  to  have  committed,  could 
hardly  have  consisted  in  anything  more  than  re- 
12 


178  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

fusing  to  listen  to  tlie  prophets  and  presuming  to 
resist  the  Chaldean  army,  which  was  already  ap- 
proaching Jerusalem  to  punish  the  revolt  of  Je- 
hoiakim.  Jeremiah  fairly  raged  against  the  young 
king  and  his  mother,  Nehusta,  who  probably  exer- 
cised a  sort  of  regency.  He  even  threatened  the 
utter  destruction  of  the  royal  race,  but  accompanied 
the  menace  mfch  a  mysterious  promise  of  a  restora- 
tion of  both  Judah  and  Israel  under  a  righteous 
king,  a  new  scion  to  be  raised  unto  David. 

The  approach  of  the  hostile  army  produced  a 
general  terror  and  a  flocking  to  the  capital  for 
safety;  but  before  Nebuchadnezzar  could  begin  the 
terrible  siege  for  which  he  was  preparing,  the  king 
and  his  family  and  court  went  out  of  the  city  to 
meet  him,  and  to  surrender  unconditionally.  Je- 
hoiachin  was  deposed  and  carried  captive  to 
Babylon,  with  his  officers  and  chief  men.  In  fact 
what  was  regarded  as  the  influential  class  was 
bodily  transported,  and  though  the  priests  and 
prophets,  who  had  been  virtually  on  the  side  of 
the  invader,  were  mostly  left  behind,  there  was 
one  notable  exception  in  Ezekiel,  from  whom 
much  was  to  be  heard  out  of  the  land  of  captiv- 
ity. The  temple  and  palace  were  once  more  de- 
spoiled of  everything  worth  carrying  away,  but 
the  kingdom  was  not  yet  to  be  blotted  out.  Mat- 
taniah,  an  uncle  of  the  deposed  king,  was  placed 


THE  CARRYING  AWAY   TO  BABYLON  179 

upon  the  throne  under  the  royal  name  of  Zedekiah, 
but  the  fulfilment  of  Jeremiah's  direful  prophecy 
of  destruction  and  desolation  was  only  deferred. 

The  condition  of  things  that  excited  the  ire  of 
the  prophets  continued  under  Zedekiah,  and  when 
the  king  showed  a  disposition  to  join  with  the 
other  subject  nations  about  him  in  an  effort  to 
throw  off  the  yoke  of  Babylon,  he  was  violently 
assailed  for  his  presumption.  There  were,  how- 
ever, prophets  professing  to  speak  in  the  name  of 
Jehovah  who  encouraged  this  policy  and  promised 
success  ;  but  these,  and  especially  the  chief  of  them, 
Hananiah,  were  virulently  denounced  as  false  and 
lying  prophets  by  Jeremiah,  who  went  declaiming 
about  the  streets  with  a  yoke  upon  his  neck,  sym- 
bolic of  subjection  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  was 
characterized  as  "the  servant  of  God."  Eesist- 
ance  to  him  was  to  be  punished  with  the  sword 
and  with  famine  and  pestilence.  Predictions  of 
success  for  the  alliance  of  the  subject  nations  to 
recover  their  independence  filled  Jeremiah  with 
fury,  and  his  prescience  was  certainly  clearer  than 
that  of  the  king's  advisers,  for  such  a  policy  meant 
sure  destruction,  however  humiliating  submission 
might  be. 

While  these  puny  kings  of  the  Jordan  region 
were  plotting  and  planning  resistance  to  the  over- 
powering empire  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates — 


180  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

during  the  long  lull  before  the  final  sweep  of  the 
scourge  fell  upon  Judah — there  Avere  strange  com- 
munications between  the  faithful  at  Jerusalem  and 
the  exiles  in  Mesopotamia.  Jeremiah,  reserving 
his  regard  at  home  for  the  austere  brotherhood  of 
the  Rechabites  and  other  submissive  souls,  recog- 
nized the  true  seed  of  the  future  Israel  in  the 
captives  of  Babylon,  and  Ezekiel  sent  his  weird 
visions  from  the  river  Cliebar,  not  to  cheer  or  en- 
coui-age  his  compatriots,  but  to  reprove  them  and 
prepare  them  for  their  doom.  Bj  his  mystic  use 
of  symbolism  and  imagery  he  became  a  sort  of 
prototype  of  the  apocalyptic  winters,  but  his  im- 
mediate object  was  rather  practical.  His  policy 
was  as  much  for  submission  to  Nebuchadnezzar  as 
was  that  of  Jeremiah. 

The  latter  sent  messages  to  the  exiles  advising 
them  to  settle  down,  build  houses,  and  plant  gar- 
dens, as  for  a  permanent  stay.  One  of  the  exiled 
"prophets"  who  presumed  to  question  the  wisdom 
of  this  advice  was  fiercely  doomed  to  be  an  out- 
cast, with  all  his  race.  The  most  hopeful  strain  of 
the  long  period  of  gloom  that  followed  the  death 
of  Josiah  came  from  the  unknown  author  of  the 
last  three  chapters  of  the  Book  of  Zechariali,  who 
looked  forward  to  the  time  when  Jerusalem  should 
be  delivered  from  her  enemies,  and  the  ideal  king- 
dom of  the  Lord  should  be  established.     It  was  a 


THE  CARRYING  AWAY  TO  BABYLON  181 

vision  that  had  been  cherished  before,  and  that 
would  return  in  the  centuries  to  come,  to  alhue 
the  untiring  hope  of  Israel,  finally  to  be  trans- 
formed into  a  new  vision  of  the  spiritual  kingdom 
of  the  Messiah. 

But  there  was  to  be  a  long  period  of  tribulation 
and  of  changes,  of  which  the  prophets  never 
dreamed.  The  coming  scourge  of  Babylon  they 
did  foresee,  and  Jeremiah  rejoiced  in  it  as  the  only 
hope  of  purging  Judah  of  its  iniquities.  Ezekiel 
announced  the  sharpening  of  the  sword  of  the 
Lord,  as  Nebuchadnezzar  prepared  to  crush  the 
spirit  of  revolt  among  his  tributaries  of  the  West. 
That  warrior  directed  his  forces  against  Jerusalem 
in  the  year  590  B.C.,  and  it  seems  strange  that  it 
required  a  siege  of  two  years  to  reduce  it.  But 
Tyre  was  besieged  at  the  same  time,  the  country 
round  about  was  devastated,  and  there  was  an  in- 
terruption of  operations  to  repel  an  attack  from 
Egypt.  Amidst  famine,  untold  suffering,  and  he- 
roic resistance,  Jeremiah  did  not  remit  his  gloomy 
forebodings  or  his  demand  for  a  surrender  to  the 
enemy.  It  is  little  wonder  that  he  was  regarded 
as  a  traitor  and  thrown  into  a  foul  dungeon,  but 
he  commanded  a  degree  of  dread,  if  not  of  rever- 
ence, sufficient  to  induce  the  king  to  effect  his 
rescue  and  protect  his  life.  When  the  doomed 
city  was  finally  taken  and  sacked,  and  the  king 


182  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

was  sent  to  a  Babylonian  prison  with  his  eyes  put 
out,  the  prophet's  known  sympathy  for  the  con- 
queror saved  him  from  all  hurt. 

Jerusalem  was  left  in  utter  ruin,  and  the  land 
made  desolate,  but  it  was  not  depopulated, 
though  many  were  carried  into  captivity ;  and  no 
alien  colonists  were  planted  among  the  people  of 
Judah.  After  the  work  of  destruction  and  subjec- 
tion had  been  completed  by  Nebuchadnezzar's 
chief  officer,  a  native  of  the  country  (Gedaliah) 
was  made  governor  ;  but  in  the  disordered  condi- 
tion of  things  he  soon  fell  a  victim  to  a  plot  and 
was  assassinated.  The  incident  that  chiefly  inter- 
ests us  in  the  turbulent  scenes  that  followed  was 
the  escape  of  a  band  of  refugees  to  Egypt,  carry- 
ing Jeremiah  and  Baruch  with  them,  in  spite  of 
the  protestations  of  the  former  that  it  was  against 
the  command  of  Jehovah.  Even  from  the  land  of 
the  Nile  that  irrepressible  voice  was  heard  de- 
nouncing the  idolatry  of  the  country  and  threaten- 
ing it  with  the  fate  of  Judah  at  the  hands  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar. The  last  audible  cry  of  the  prophet, 
as  his  fellow-exiles  lapsed  into  the  worship  of 
"  the  Queen  of  Heaven,"  was  a  positive  and  im- 
pressive prediction,  which  conspicuously  failed  of 
fulfilment ;  but  Jeremiah's  mission  was  ended 
when  his  own  land  had  "  become  a  desolation,  and 
an  astonishment,  and  a  curse." 


XXXII 

THE  CAPTIVITY  AND  DELIYEEANCE 

The  period  of  Babylonian  captivity  lasted  from 
588  to  535  B.C.,  fifty-three  years,  though  the  first 
partial  deportation  took  place  ten  years  before  the 
fall  of  Jerusalem.  Those  who  were  carried  away 
included  the  ofiicial  and  military  class,  the  priests 
of  the  temple,  the  people  of  substance,  and  all  who 
were  supposed  to  make  the  power  of  the  nation, 
leaving  the  mass  of  the  common  people  attached 
to  the  soil.  The  head  and  heart  of  Israel  were 
transferred  to  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  where 
in  the  obscurity  of  exile  they  kept  up  a  feverish 
activity  that  hastened  the  development  of  Judaism. 
The  first  "  Jewish  quarter  "  was  established  within 
the  precincts  of  Babylon,  and  some  of  the  traits 
that  have  characterized  the  "peculiar  people"  ever 
since  received  their  strongest  impress  there.  While 
kept  within  certain  limits  of  residence,  and  subject 
to  official  restraint,  they  were  treated  neither  as 
slaves  nor  as  prisoners.  Submissive  to  authority 
and  awed  by  the  power  and  grandeur  of  the  great 
capital,  they  still  cherished  a  pride  of  race  that 


184  THE  JEWISH  SURIPTURES 

held  in  scorn  the  hixury  and  display  about  them. 
But  some  took  advantage  of  their  opportunities, 
pushed  into  the  service  of  the  ruling  class,  engaged 
in  industry  and  trade ;  and,  in  achieving  worldly 
prosperity,  lost  interest  in  their  own  land.  In  this 
way,  no  doubt,  most  of  those  who  had  been  out  of 
sympathy  with  the  religious  spirit  of  their  nation 
were  drawn  off  from  that  saving  remnant  that  was 
destined  to  return  and  continue  its  great  mission. 
It  was  another  step  in  the  process  of  depuration. 

In  the  "Jemsh  quarter"  of  Babylon  the  first 
synagogue  was  planted.  The  devout  hearts  that 
yearned  for  Sion  were  wont  to  gather  together  to 
recall  the  memories  of  Jerusalem  and  unite  in  their 
vows  of  fidelity  to  Jehovah  and  his  law.  Ezekiel 
appears  to  have  become  the  dominating  spirit 
among  the  exiles.  He  set  himself  the  task  of  con- 
soling and  encouraging  them,  and  of  cheering 
them  with  hopes  of  restoration  and  future  glory. 
In  a  series  of  visions  filled  with  mystic  symbol- 
ism, the  prophet  embodied  the  promises  of  Jeho- 
vah. The  sufferings  of  the  people  were  to  atone 
for  their  past  sins  and  for  those  of  their  rulers ; 
their  old  enemies  were  to  be  destroyed ;  they  were 
to  return  to  their  own  land,  which  would  become 
an  earthly  paradise.  The  tribes  would  be  reunited 
and  David  would  be  their  prince  forever.  The 
Lord  would  make  with  them  an  everlasting  cove- 


THE  CAPTIVITY  AND  DETAVERANCE  185 

nant  and  set  his  sanctuary  in  tlie  midst  of  them 
forevermore. 

These  glowing  and  visionary  promises  of  Ezekiel 
were  followed  by  definite  plans  of  restoration.  He 
dreamed  of  taking  possession  of  the  land  from  the 
Jordan  to  the  sea  and  dividing  it  again  among  the 
tribes,  and  establishing  therein  the  ideal  theocratic 
realm.  The  temple  was  to  be  reconstructed  on  a 
new  and  grander  scale,  and  its  worship  was  to  be 
developed  upon  lines  laid  down  by  the  prophet. 
While  these  predictions  were  vague  and  even  more 
visionary  than  vague,  and  as  far  as  possible  from 
any  subsequent  reality  in  their  details,  Ezekiel  out- 
lined the  hierarchy  of  the  priesthood  and  the  liturgy 
of  the  temple  much  as  they  came  to  be  adopted, 
and  he  extended  materially  the  sco23e  of  the  ac- 
cepted "law." 

The  most  precious  treasure  which  the  captives 
of  Jerusalem  had  carried  with  them  into  exile  was 
the  literature  that  had  gathered  within  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  temple  from  the  time  of  Solomon.  It 
must  have  been  saved  in  great  confusion,  from 
which  it  was  never  completely  extricated,  and 
the  piecing  and  patching,  arranging  and  copying 
which  it  afterward  underwent,  were  done  with 
neither  care  nor  skill,  and  greatly  helped  to 
obscure  its  significance  in  many  parts.  Modem 
research  and  critical  acumen  are  still  unable  to 


186  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

clear  it  wtolly  from  the  obscurity  which  incapacity 
was  engaged  for  ages  in  deepening. 

It  was  duiing  this  period  of  leisure  and  of  free- 
dom from  the  necessity  of  making  practical  appli- 
cation of  the  rules  prescribed  for  a  future  state  of 
things  that  anew  development  of  the  law  was  made, 
substantially  upon  lines  laid  down  by  Ezekiel,  and 
possibly  under  his  direction.  What  is  called  the 
Levitical  law  was  not  then  completed,  but  the 
substance  of  it  was  made  up  as  it  constituted  the 
main  part  of  the  book  called  Leviticus  and  contrib- 
uted passages  to  Exodus,  Numbers,  and  Joshua 
in  their  final  form.  Not  only  was  Moses  contin- 
ued as  the  law-giver,  but  for  the  first  time  Aaron 
was  made  the  head  of  the  priesthood,  and  the  tribe 
of  Levi  was  practically  created.  The  first  descrip- 
tion of  the  paraphernalia  of  worship  in  the  wilder- 
ness was  made  at  this  time,  together  with  the  de- 
tailed account  of  devising  the  appurtenances  of 
the  ark  and  the  vestments  of  priests.  Nearly  all 
of  what  may  be  designated  as  the  Levitical  system 
was  the  product  of  the  exile,  and  was  apparently 
inspired  by  Ezekiel,  who  was  a  priest  before  he 
became  known  as  a  prophet.  In  connection  with 
this  work  was  a  further  development  of  the  Mosaic 
legend. 

The  annals  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah 
were  completed  during  the  early  years  of  the  exile, 


THE  CAPTIVITY  AND  DELIVERANCE  187 

and  efforts  were  made  to  put  in  form  the  writings 
of  the  prophets.  The  same  hand  that  edited  and 
completed  the  Book  of  Kings  evidently  put  to- 
gether, with  connecting  narratives,  the  "  prophe- 
cies "  of  Jeremiah,  but  in  a  sadly  disordered  shape. 
Baruch,  who  was  said  at  one  time  to  have  written 
out  the  prophet's  denunciations  and  warnings,  and 
who  was  carried  with  him  to  Egypt,  is  supposed, 
after  Jeremiah's  death,  to  have  made  his  way  to 
Babylon  and  joined  the  colony  there.  Otherwise 
it  is  hard  to  explain  how  the  account  of  the  great 
prophet's  latest  utterances  got  into  the  collection. 
Of  his  death  there  was  no  account,  but  some  find 
obscure  references  to  his  fate  in  the  "  man  of  sor- 
rows "  of  the  later  Isaiah.  Other  literary  produc- 
tions of  these  years  may  include  the  Book  of 
Lamentations — certainly  not  by  Jeremiah — and  a 
number  of  the  psalms. 

A  few  years  after  the  death  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
(561  B.C.)  there  was  a  change  of  dynasty,  and 
under  the  usurper,  Nabonahid,  the  Chaldean 
power  rapidly  declined.  The  aggressive  spirit  of 
conquest,  which  for  ages  had  hovered  from  Egypt 
to  Babylon  and  Nineveh,  with  alternate  rises  and 
falls,  had  taken  possession  of  a  new  empire  to  the 
east.  The  Medes  and  Persians  became  the  ar- 
biters of  destiny  in  the  region  of  the  Tigris  and 
Euphrates,  and  the  first  Cyrus  assumed  the  role 


188  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPT UliES 

of  couqueror.  As  usual,  the  man  who  for  the  time 
being  seemed  to  wield  an  ii'resistible  power  ap- 
peared to  the  devout  of  Israel  as  the  servant  of 
their  God.  When  the  army  of  Cyras  was  on  the 
way  to  crush  the  pride  of  Babylon  with  a  force 
that  could  not  be  withstood,  the  exultant  voice  of 
the  Hebrew  prophet  rose  once  more  in  those  clar- 
ion tones  that  have  rolled  down  the  ages,  produc- 
ing awe  in  successive  generations  of  men. 

Ezekiel  had  died  shortly  after  the  death  of 
Nebuchadnezzar,  and  from  that  time  men  who 
were  moved  to  speak  in  the  name  of  Jehovah 
seemed  to  be  reluctant  to  do  so  in  their  own  per- 
son. They  sought  to  clothe  their  utterances  with 
the  prestige  of  some  prophet  already  held  in  rev- 
erence, or  to  veil  them  under  a  symbolic  character. 
At  all  events,  the  great  prophet  of  the  deliverance 
from  captivity  and  the  return  to  Sion  spoke  in 
the  name  of  Isaiah,  and  his  inspiring  words  were 
bound  up  with  those  of  the  revered  counsellor  of 
Hezekiah's  reign,  in  the  book  bearing  that  name 
as  a  title.  The  assumption  of  character  and  the 
association  of  ^viitings  were  approj^riate.  The 
later  prophet  seems  not  only  to  have  absorbed  the 
spirit  of  the  earlier  one,  but  to  have  acquired  his 
mastery  of  language,  at  least  for  the  purpose  for 
which  he  used  it.  It  has  a  less  portentous  force 
and  a  more  joyous  tone,  but  it  has  the  same  vi- 


THE  CAPTIVITY  AND  DELIVERANCE  189 

brant  ring.  The  new  Isaiali  represented  an  ad- 
vance of  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  in  the 
religious  conceptions  of  his  people,  and  was  in- 
spired by  a  situation  quite  different  from  that  of 
his  great  prototj^pe. 

In  the  section  of  the  Book  of  Isaiah  beginning 
with  chapter  xl.  are  found  the  utterances  of  the 
unknown  prophet  of  the  time  of  the  Persian  con- 
quest, and  scattered  among  the  other  chapters  are 
some  fragments  of  the  same  time,  and  probably 
of  the  same  author,  while  a  few  passages  relating 
to  the  same  events  were  interpolated  in  the  Book 
of  Jeremiah.  No  sooner  was  the  army  of  Cyrus 
on  foot  against  the  decrepit  empire  than  the  pro- 
phetic voice  was  raised  from  the  Jewish  quarter 
of  Babylon  joyfully  announcing  the  day  of  deliv- 
erance. The  power  which  at  the  height  of  its 
vigor  was  regarded  as  the  instrument  of  Jehovah 
was  treated  with  hatred  and  contempt  in  its  de- 
cadence. The  Hebrew  captives  had  seen  the 
pride  and  arrogance  and  the  idolatry  and  corrup- 
tion of  the  great  city,  and  its  decaying  grandeur 
excited  their  aversion  and  not  their  sympathy. 
They  hailed  the  rising  splendor  of  Persia  with 
joy,  and  Cyras  succeeded  Nebuchadnezzar  as  the 
"  servant  of  the  Lord."  Although  the  name  of 
the  national  God  was  retained,  he  had  by  this 
time  absorbed  the  loftv  attributes  of  the  Elohim, 


190  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

and  in  the  sublime  conception  of  the  second 
Isaiah  he  became  the  universal  Deitj  in  a  fuller 
sense  than  ever  before.  Israel  was  still  the  spe- 
cial object  of  his  care,  and  he  used  other  nations 
only  to  advance  his  chosen  people,  but  his  sway 
was  over  all  the  earth. 

Before  and  during  the  siege  which  resulted  in 
the  fall,  but  not  in  the  predicted  destruction,  of 
Babylon,  the  unknown  prophet  indulged  in  dreams 
not  only  of  deliverance  but  of  future  greatness 
and  glory  for  restored  and  purified  Israel.  He 
pictured  Jehovah  as  leading  back  his  people,  and 
the  messengers  upon  the  mountains  as  announcing 
the  glad  tidings.  He  heard  voices  in  the  wilder- 
ness crying  out  for  a  preparation  of  the  way.  He 
personified,  sometimes  in  obscure  and  mystic  sym- 
bolism, the  past  sufferings  and  future  rewards  of 
the  people.  Beyond  and  above  the  crumbling 
Babylon  and  the  victorious  Cyrus  his  vision  rev- 
elled in  the  coming  glory  of  Jerusalem,  where  jus- 
tice was  to  reign  in  a  golden  age  of  righteousness 
and  peace,  and  all  nations  would  accept  the  sway 
of  Israel's  God. 


THE  EETUEN  AND  KESTOEATION 

The  plain  facts  of  the  return  from  exile  and  the 
restoration  of  Jerusalem  and  the  temple,  and  of 
the  subsequent  experience  of  the  people  of  Israel, 
showed  little  regard  for  the  exalted  visions  of  the 
prophet,  but  these  were  long  after  turned  to  a 
spiritual  account  for  the  benefit  of  humanity,  with 
an  application  of  which  the  writers  of  Israel  had 
no  conception.  It  was  no  part  of  the  policy  of 
the  Medes  and  Persians  in  their  conquests  to 
transplant  populations  or  to  retain  colonies  of 
captives.  While  Cyrus  was  represented  by  the 
Jewish  writers  as  acknowledging  his  allegiance  to 
"  the  Lord,  the  God  of  heaven,"  in  their  sense  of 
the  term,  and  as  being  charged  with  the  mission 
of  building  him  "  an  house  in  Jerusalem,  which  is 
in  Judah,"  it  is  probable  that  the  Persian  ruler 
gave  little  thought  to  the  band  of  Hebrew  exiles 
which  he  found  in  the  purlieus  of  the  conquered 
city.  He  was  a  liberal  monarch  and  they  were  a 
helpless  and  harmless  people,  and  no  doubt  they 
were  quite  at  liberty  to  go.     Of  their  worship  and 


192  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

the  ardor  of  their  longing  for  the  land  which  they 
had  come  to  deem  so  sacred,  he  could  have  had  no 
comprehension. 

There  were  points  of  sympathy  between  the 
Persians  and  Israelites,  and  the  contact  produced 
notable  effects.  The  Persians  of  that  early  day 
had  a  strong  monotheistic  tendency  and  an  aver- 
sion to  the  use  of  images  and  to  the  rites  of 
idolatry.  There  were  in  their  theology  the  germs 
of  an  exalted  spirituality,  and  their  moral  stand- 
ard was  a  high  one  for  the  time.  Moreover, 
they  were  tolerant  and  generous.  The  authen- 
ticity of  the  alleged  proclamation  of  Cyrus  re- 
garding the  return  of  the  Jewish  captives  is  more 
than  doubtful,  and  the  actual  facts  are  sufficiently 
prosaic.  It  was,  however,  in  a  strict  sense,  the 
return  of  a  purified  remnant,  for  the  worldly  and 
indifferent  were  mostly  left  behind,  and  the  con- 
centrated ardor,  devotion,  and  fidelity  of  Israel, 
the  persistent  leaven  of  the  religious  world,  was 
restored,  to  begin  a  new  ferment  at  the  *'lioly 
city." 

There  were  two  organized  bands  of  returning 
exiles,  one  under  Sheshbazzar,  son  of  the  old 
captive  king,  Jehoiachin,  who  after  long  years  of 
imprisonment  at  Babylon  had  been  allowed  to 
pass  his  last  days  in  comfort  under  the  successor 
of  Nebuchadnezzar ;  and  the  other  under  the  old 


THE  RETURN  AND  RESTORATION  193 

king's  grandson,  Zerubbabel,  accompanied  by  tlie 
priest  Josliua,  grandson  of  the  Seraiali  who  was 
put  to  death  after  the  capture  of  Jerusalem.  The 
genealogies  in  the  Book  of  Ezra  are  of  no  his- 
torical value,  and  the  figures  are  grossly  exag- 
gerated, like  most  statistics  of  that  and  earlier 
times.  The  two  caravans,  which  occupied  from 
three  to  four  months  in  traversing  the  Syrian 
desert  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  Jordan,  made  no 
great  addition  in  numbers  to  the  population  in 
Judah,  but  they  contributed  a  potent  factor  to  its 
future  activity.  It  must  have  been  a  journey  of 
much  hardship,  even  for  a  comparatively  small 
number  of  people,  and  it  was  only  second  in  its 
consequences  to  the  memorable  passage  of  the 
wilderness  from  Egyptian  bondage. 

Zerubbabel  held  authority  from  the  Persian 
government  as  a  sort  of  satrap  in  the  country 
where  his  ancestors  had  been  kings,  but  he  was 
subject  to  the  military  power  of  the  sovereign. 
He  made  it  his  first  business  to  restore  the  altar 
and  revive  the  worship  of  Jehovah  on  Mount  Sion, 
and  his  next  duty  to  rebuild  the  temple  on  its  old 
foundations.  He  found  the  people  not  only  im- 
poverished, but  apathetic.  They  had  relapsed 
into  the  old  ways  and  felt  little  of  the  inspiration 
that  had  been  nourished  among  the  fervent  souls 
by  the  streams  of  Babylon.  There  was  even 
13 


194  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTUMES 

jealousy  and  hostility  to  be  encountered,  and  it 
was  many  years  before  the  task  of  rebuilding  the 
temple  was  completed.  During  this  period  of 
difficulty  and  discouragement  two  men  ventured 
again  to  assume  the  character  of  prophet.  Haggai 
endeavored  to  rouse  the  people  from  their  apathy 
and  to  inflame  their  zeal,  and  Zechariah,  the  author 
of  the  first  eight  chapters  only  of  the  book  bearing 
his  name,  set  forth  in  visions  the  appeals  and 
promises  that  were  to  excite  the  hopes  and  stimu- 
late the  efi'orts  of  Israel  in  a  time  of  new  trial. 

It  was  after  the  completion  of  the  second  temple 
that  the  complicated  service  was  established,  with 
the  various  functions  and  vestments  of  priests  and 
Levites,  the  formal  feasts  and  sacrifices,  the  litur- 
gical and  musical  accompaniments,  and  all  forms 
and  ceremonies,  which  later  writers  were  fond  of 
tracing  back  to  David  and  Solomon,  and  in  some 
measure  even  to  Moses.  The  law  was  also  still 
further  developed  on  the  lines  laid  down  by  the 
priests  in  their  exile,  and  in  this  work  Ezra  ap- 
pears to  have  taken  a  prominent  part.  These 
facts  need  to  be  kept  in  mind  when  we  read  the 
writings  of  a  later  time  which  relate  to  events  of 
days  still  earlier.  Everything  relating  to  laws  and 
ordinances,  and.  to  the  forms  and  appurtenances 
of  worship,  even  from  the  sojourn  in  the  wilder- 
ness of  Sinai,  received  its  color  and  much  of  its 


THE  RETURN  AND  RESTORATION  195 

substance  from  writers  saturated  with  the  influence 
of  the  priesthood  of  the  second  temple  and  look- 
ing upon  the  past  through  the  haze  of  that  in- 
fluence. 

It  was  now  that  the  authority  of  the  high-priest 
was  first  established  and  traced  back  to  Aaron, 
who,  as  the  source  of  the  priesthood,  was  as  myth- 
ical as  Moses  in  the  character  of  the  law-giver. 
Zerubbabel  had  been  recognized  as  the  "  Prince  " 
of  his  people,  and  there  was  a  disposition  in  some 
quarters  to  regard  him  as  that  scion  of  the  house 
of  David  which  was  to  usher  in  the  reign  of  peace 
and  righteousness ;  but  the  reality  was  far  different 
from  the  dreams  of  the  prophets.  There  are  faint 
indications,  chiefly  in  the  visions  of  Zechariah, 
of  a  schism  between  the  secular  power,  represented 
by  the  "Prince,"  and  the  ecclesiastical  power, 
embodied  in  the  high-priest,  and  the  latter  was 
destined  to  prevail.  The  fate  of  Zerubbabel  is 
shrouded  in  mystery.  He  disappears  in  silence 
and  darkness,  and  with  him  the  line  of  David  fell 
into  obscurity  if  not  into  extinction.  The  attempt 
in  later  times  to  trace  it  through  a  chaos  of  broken 
genealogies  was  hardly  successful.  But  with  the 
disappearance  of  Zerubbabel  from  the  scene, 
Joshua,  the  son  of  Jozadak,  appears  as  absorb- 
ing such  secular  power  as  was  left  to  the  Jews 
by  the  Persian  government,  and  from  that  time 


196  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

the  lineal  descent  of  the  authority  of  the  high- 
priest  was  recognized.  But  the  native  rule  at 
Jerusalem  was  a  hierarchy,  Avith  little  secular 
power.  As  a  nation  Israel  was  dead.  Its  vi- 
tality was  absorbed  in  Judaism  as  a  religious 
system. 


XXXIV 
MAKING  AN  ECCLESIASTICAL  CAPITAL 

The  Persian  authorities  appear  to  have  given 
little  attention  to  what  was  going  on  in  Judea  so 
long  as  their  power  was  not  resisted  or  ques- 
tioned. Many  of  the  Jews  who  remained  in  the 
East  kept  up  friendly  communication  with  their 
old  home  and  furnished  substantial  aid  to  those 
who  were  striving  to  repair  its  broken  fortunes. 
They  showed  the  genius  for  profiting  by  their  op- 
portunities that  has  characterized  their  descendants, 
and  kept  in  favor  Avith  the  ruling  class  better  than 
some  of  those  descendants  have  done.  Some  of 
them  held  offices  of  more  or  less  tnist  and  confi- 
dence, though  implying  a  certain  menial  relation. 

Among  the  devout  who  had  remained  in  exile 
was  one  Nehemiah,  who  in  the  memoirs  which 
have  been  preserved  represents  himself  as  the 
cupbearer  of  Artaxerxes  (Longamanus)  at  Shu- 
shan  (Susa).  He  obtained  from  that  monarch  a 
commission  to  go  to  Jerusalem  and  rebuild  its 
ancient  walls,  which  still  lay  in  ruins,  though 
eighty  or  ninety  years  had  passed   since  the  re- 


193  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

turn  from  captivity.  With  this  he  received  a 
certain  degree  of  administrative  authority  as  the 
representative  of  the  Persian  government. 

Nehemiah  met  with  even  more  obstruction  in 
his  enterprise  of  reconstructing  the  walls  than  had 
been  encountered  in  restoring  the  temple.  The 
jealousy  of  those  who  had  remained  in  the  country 
during  the  captivity,  and  especially  of  the  influ- 
ential class  in  the  old  Samaritan  province,  who 
had  formed  a  close  alliance  with  some  of  the 
priesthood  at  Jerusalem,  proved  a  serious  hin- 
drance. There  were  intrigues  to  seduce  Nehemiah 
from  his  undertaking,  threats  of  violent  interfer- 
ence against  which  he  had  to  guard,  and  even  rep- 
resentations to  the  court  at  Susa,  that  he  was 
designing  to  set  himself  up  as  a  king  in  Judea. 
The  people  were  subject  to  severe  exactions  for 
the  Persian  tribute,  and  the  cost  of  the  construc- 
tions about  Jerusalem  added  to  their  discontent. 
But  Nehemiah  thwarted  all  the  efforts  of  his  op- 
ponents and  overcame  all  difficulties,  and  the  com- 
pletion of  the  walls  was  celebrated  with  great 
ceremony  about  440  B.C.  The  genealogies  and 
statistics  of  families  given  in  the  memoirs  of  this 
officer,  and  repeated  with  variations  m  the  Book 
of  Chronicles,  are  far  from  accurate,  and  the  figures 
are,  as  usual,  much  exaggerated. 

But  the  real  importance  of  Nehemiah's  adminis- 


MAKING  AN  ECCLESIASTICAL   CAPITAL  199 

tration  lay  in  its  effect  upon  the  religious  tendency 
of  the  time.  Jerusalem  became  an  ecclesiastical 
capital.  Those  connected  with  the  hierarchy  were 
a  privileged  class,  and  absorbed  such  secular 
power  as  was  left  to  local  authority.  Policy  was 
directed  to  establishing  the  exclusiveness  of  the 
Jewish  people  and  maintaining  their  distinctive 
solidarity.  For  this  the  practice  of  circumcision 
was  insisted  upon  as  a  rite  of  great  importance, 
and  stress  was  laid  upon  a  strict  observance  of  the 
Sabbath,  which  had  not  previously  been  much 
regarded,  though  formally  prescribed  in  the 
"law."  But  more  than  all,  marriage  with  those 
not  of  the  Hebrew  blood  and  religion  was  inter- 
dicted, as  the  chief  cause  of  lapses  into  idolatry, 
or  of  laxness  in  the  national  faith.  Observances, 
ceremonies,  and  rigid  requirements  were  multi- 
plied, and  the  whole  tendency  was  opposed  to 
the  broad  spirit  of  the  great  prophets  and 
threatened  to  stifle  it. 

This  did  not  proceed  from  deliberate  purpose 
on  the  part  of  Nehemiah,  so  much  as  it  was  a  con- 
sequence of  the  policy  instituted  by  him,  in  what 
he  believed  to  be  the  interest  of  his  j)eople,  worked 
out  later  and  by  narrower  minds.  He  was  an 
organizer,  and  an  administrative  officer  under 
Persian  authority,  and  as  such  did  not  retain  the 
sympathy  of  the  priestly  class.     Tobiah,  the  Sa- 


200  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

maritan  leader  of  the  opposition  which  had  given 
him  so  much  trouble,  was  allied  by  marriage  with 
the  high-priest  Eliashib,  at  Jerusalem,  and  dur- 
ing an  absence  of  Nehemiah  at  the  Persian  capital 
he  was  installed  in  the  precincts  of  the  temple,  and 
was  in  danger  of  acquiring  ascendancy  at  Jeru- 
salem. This  would  have  meant  a  relaxing  of  the 
law  and  a  toleration  of  mixed  marriages  and  of 
alien  forms  of  worship,  but  the  prompt  return  of 
the  "  governor  "  checked  this  movement,  and  he 
set  about  enforcing  restrictions  and  requirements 
more  vigorously  than  before.  He  virtually  fixed 
the  direction  of  the  Judaic  tendency,  but  he  ex- 
cited the  antipathy  of  the  priestly  class. 

One  effect  of  this  antipathy,  or,  to  put  it  less 
strongly,  of  this  lack  of  sympathy,  was  an  effort  to 
transfer  some  of  the  credit  of  Nehemiah's  work  to 
another.  While  he  had  a  fanatical  regard  for  the 
Torah  as  it  then  was,  he  was  a  layman,  and  nom- 
inally a  secular  officer.  He  left  an  account  of  his 
work,  undoubtedly  authentic,  but  in  the  next  cen- 
tury the  Book  of  Ezra  was  compiled  on  the  model 
of  the  memoir  of  Nehemiah,  attributing  to  the 
priest  and  scribe  a  generous  part  of  the  work  per- 
formed by  the  prefect  of  Persian  authority.  He, 
too,  was  represented  as  deriving  large  official 
powers  from  Artaxerxes,  and  as  taking  a  leading 
part   in   establishing  the  observances  of   the   law 


MAKING  AN  ECCLESIASTICAL   CAPITAL         201 

and  enforcing  severe  measures  against  mixed  mar- 
riages. The  book  bearing  the  name  of  Ezra  was 
made  up  of  inconsistent  material,  which  the  author 
failed  to  make  harmonious,  and  is  entitled  to  Httle 
credence  as  a  historical  document ;  but  there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  a  priest  or  scribe  of  that 
name  conducted  one  of  the  bands  which  at  inter- 
vals followed  the  main  body  of  returning  exiles  to 
Jerusalem.  If  the  part  of  the  book  relating  to 
that  event  is  authentic,  he  antedated  Nehemiah 
by  several  years,  but  the  only  thing  that  is  either 
certain  or  important  is  that  this  Ezra  took  an 
active  part  in  the  literary  work  of  developing  the 
Torah.  He  probably  took  little  or  no  part  in 
administration,  and  is  not  entitled  to  much  of  the 
dubious  credit  of  a  stringent  application  of  the 
law. 

At  all  events  it  was  during  this  period — near 
the  middle  of  the  fifth  century  B.C. — that  the  code 
thereafter  deemed  sacred  and  embodied  in  the  so- 
called  books  of  Moses  was  completed  and  promul- 
gated, substantially  as  we  have  it  now.  The  old 
Book  of  the  Covenant  of  the  Jehovist  writer, 
and  the  consecrated  "  ten  words  "  of  the  Elohist, 
the  second  version  of  the  law  "  found  in  the  tem- 
ple "  in  the  days  of  Josiah,  and  the  Levitical  com- 
pilation of  the  captivity,  were  retained  and  ampli- 
fied with  added  prescriptions  on  various  subjects, 


208  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

some  of  which  may  have  been  new,  but  many  of 
which  were  old,  and  the  whole  was  woven,  or 
patched,  into  the  narrative  already  existing  of  the 
Exodus  and  the  passage  through  the  wilderness. 
Like  all  compilations  of  that  and  earlier  time,  it 
was  done  without  skill  and  with  little  effort  to 
avoid  repetitions,  or  even  to  efface  inconsisten- 
cies, and  the  attempts  to  adjust  the  old  narrative 
to  new  requirements  were  rather  clumsy.  The 
Moses  legend  had  been  growing  and  continued  to 
grow,  but  so  far  as  it  is  contained  in  the  Penta- 
teuch, it  was  finally  fixed  at  this  time.  According 
to  the  record  concerning  Ezra  the  scribe,  there 
was  a  formal  promulgation  of  the  law  by  a  reading 
of  the  book  in  the  presence  of  the  people.  The 
reading  was  attended  and  followed  by  much  cere- 
mony, the  establishment  of  a  feast,  and  the  bind- 
ing of  the  people  by  a  nevv^  covenant. 


XXXV 

LAST  OF   THE  PEOPHETS 

Not  only  were  the  last  additions  made  to  the 
"law  of  Moses  "  at  this  time,  but  the  book  of  the 
prophets  of  Jehovah  was  closed.  The  last  of  their 
sacredly  preserved  utterances  appeared  under  the 
name  of  no  living  man.  Malachi  is  a  corruption 
of  Maleaki,  "my  messenger,"  which  served  to 
shroud  in  mystery  this  final  warning.  It  appeared 
in  the  time  of  Nehemiah,  and  is  peculiarly  charac- 
teristic of  the  spirit  of  that  day,  laying  stress 
upon  the  observances  that  were  to  separate  the 
Jews  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  No  longer  were 
the  iniquities  of  the  time  characterized  as  the  sins 
of  a  nation,  to  be  punished  by  national  calamity. 
There  was  no  nation.  The  glorious  dream  of 
Isaiah,  of  the  restoration  of  Israel  as  a  power  of 
the  earth,  which  should  draw  other  nations  to  its 
benign  sway,  of  the  exaltation  of  Jehovah's  wor° 
ship  to  a  universal  religion  of  humanity,  had  faded 
away  as  a  narrow  ecclesiasticism  asserted  itself. 
There  were  minute  prescriptions  of  law  to  be  sedu- 
lously observed,  sacrifices  and  feasts  must  not  be 


204  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

neglected,  faitlifnl  provision  must  be  made  from 
the  people's  substance  for  the  support  of  priests 
and  Levites  and  all  the  throng  of  the  temple  dev- 
otees, and  the  rites  peculiar  to  Judaism  must  be 
insisted  upon  as  essential  to  righteousness. 

All  this  was  exclusive  and  narrowing.  It  tended 
to  bring  Jehovah  again  into  the  compass  of  the 
Deity  of  a  tribe  or  of  a  sect,  and  it  led  to  bigotry 
and  intolerance.  Phariseeism  was  born  of  the 
spirit  of  Ezra  and  of  Malachi.  All  hope  of  the 
union  of  the  two  branches  of  the  house  of  Israel 
was  stifled,  and  the  Samaritan  turned  his  back 
upon  Sion  and  worshipped  God  on  Mount  Geri- 
zim,  according  to  what  he  considered  as  the  true 
traditions  of  the  fathers.  The  advantage  of  Jeru- 
salem was  in  its  temple  and  its  organized  system, 
which,  after  centuries  of  new  vicissitudes,  were  yet 
again  to  become  the  focus  for  relighting  the  flame 
of  a  religion  of  humanity.  But  in  that  interval 
Judaism  was  to  become  incrusted  with  formalism, 
smothered  in  ceremonies  and  observances,  and 
swathed  more  and  more  in  its  own  exclusiveness. 
In  all  the  centuries  of  its  existence  it  has  never 
drawn  to  itself,  but  has  been  continually  exclud- 
ing and  repelling,  and  yet  it  has  maintained  in  its 
core  a  steady  and  fervid  vitality  which  has  made  it 
the  marvel  of  longevity  in  human  history. 

One  notable    contribution    was    made   by   the 


LAST  OF  THE  mOPHETS  205 

Maleaki  to  the  leaven  which  was  to  work  with 
varying  intensity  through  the  subsequent  religious 
ferment.  He  dealt  with  the  sins  of  the  people  as 
personal  offences,  and  a  new  theory  of  retribution 
was  necessary,  for  there  was  no  nation  to  reward 
or  to  punish.  Hence  the  "  great  and  terrible  day 
of  the  Lord  "  assumed  a  new  aspect,  when  the 
wicked  should  be  burned  as  stubble  and  trodden 
as  ashes  under  foot,  but  the  righteous  who  feared 
the  name  of  the  Lord  and  kept  his  law  should  go 
forth  and  gambol  as  calves  of  the  stall.  Elijah 
was  to  appear  as  the  forerunner  of  that  day.  The 
conception  was  vague,  but  it  was  a  germ  that  was 
to  develop  through  the  apocalyj)tic  and  eschato- 
logical  writings,  and  blossom  in  the  earliest  doc- 
trines of  Christianity. 

Another  germ  that  was  to  contribute  to  the 
same  nursery  of  the  most  potent  religion  of  later 
times  was  derived  from  Persia  through  the  contact 
of  the  exiled  Hebrews  with  the  system  of  Iran. 
That  was  the  germ  of  the  demonology  and  angel- 
ology  which  was  destined  to  a  wonderful  efflores- 
cence. The  Jews  were  barren  in  mythological 
ideas.  Their  conception  of  the  Deity  was  varia- 
ble. At  times  it  presents  him  as  a  terrible  mon- 
ster, and  at  times  almost  as  an  overpowering  and 
pervading  spirit,  but  rarely  does  he  seem  to  be 
accompanied  or  attended  by  other  beings.     Occa- 


206  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

sionallj  in  their  tales  and  traditions  there  were 
references  to  God  going  about  in  human  form,  or 
to  his  messengers,  or  angels,  sent  abroad  upon 
some  errand,  and  even  to  the  "  sons  of  God,"  as  a 
company  of  attendants.  In  a  few  instances  there 
is  reference  to  one  of  these  as  a  carping  critic,  or 
"  adversary,"  under  the  name  of  Satan.  But  these 
notions  were  incongruous  with  the  general  theol- 
ogy of  the  Hebrews,  and  were  picked  up  from 
contact  with  other  nations.  Persia  had  a  system 
of  doctrine  in  which  the  powers  of  good  and  evil, 
more  or  less  clearly  personified,  were  arrayed 
against  each  other,  and  contended  for  the  mastery 
of  the  earth  and  the  possession  of  its  inhabitants. 
It  was  from  this  source  through  the  contact  of 
Judaism,  rather  than  from  Judaism  itself,  that  the 
early  and  later  Christians  derived  much  of  the 
imagery  and  symbolism  of  their  faith. 


XXXVI 

LITEKAEY  DEPEESSION 

During  the  Persian  domination  what  came  to 
be  regarded  as  the  sacred  scriptures  of  the  He- 
brews were  substantially  completed.  Additions 
were  still  made  to  the  collection  of  Psalms,  espe- 
cially of  the  hymns  and  songs  of  praise  used  in  the 
temple  service,  and  the  practice  continued  of  at- 
tributing the  chief  part  of  that  collection  to  David, 
as  the  Proverbs  were  attributed  to  Solomon,  and 
as  Moses  came  to  be  credited  with  the  authorship 
of  the  books  of  the  law.  The  Book  of  Esther, 
which  is  devoid  of  either  religious  or  historical 
value,  and  gives  a  purely  fictitious  account  of  the 
origin  of  the  Purim,  belongs  to  the  earlier  part  of 
this  period.  Two  later  productions,  Daniel  and 
Ecclesiastes,  were,  after  much  doubt  and  hesita- 
tion, included  in  the  "  canonical "  scriptures. 

Literary  activity  in  any  fruitful  sense  of  the 
w^ord  was  stifled  when  the  political  life  had  gone 
out  of  the  nation  and  the  priest  had  gained  as- 
cendancy in  place  of  the  prophet.  The  language 
itself  became  ossified,  and   its  use  was   confined 


208  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

mainly  to  the  priests  and  scribes,  the  Aramaic 
taking  its  place  in  the  common  speech  of  the 
people.  It  was  in  this  barren  time  that  a  Levite 
scribe  undertook  to  revamp  the  history  of  the  de- 
ceased nationality  of  Israel  in  the  Book  of 
Chronicles,  making  free  use  of  genealogies  and 
previous  annals,  and  carving  the  events  of  six 
centuries  to  fit  the  narrow  standard  of  his  time 
and  his  class.  The  vapid  and  sterile  character  of 
his  narrative  has  not  prevented  it  from  having 
sufficient  credence  to  make  it  very  misleading  for 
those  who  have  taken  it  as  history.  The  same 
writer  compiled  the  books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah 
from  the  genuine  memoirs  of  the  latter  and  the 
supposititious  ones  of  the  former,  and  thereby  con- 
tinued his  task  of  distorting  and  confusing  events. 
Another  form  of  pernicious  activity  with  the 
pen  consisted  in  arranging,  or  deranging,  previous 
writings,  making  glosses  and  comments  upon 
them,  and  copying  them  with  various  degrees  of 
misconception  and  inaccuracy.  The  works  of  the 
greatest  prophets  were  by  this  process  made  inco- 
herent and  disordered,  and  were  doctored  by  sup- 
pressions and  interpolations.  Faults  of  copying 
were  innumerable,  and  often  marginal  notes  were 
included  in  the  text,  while  a  mistaken  meaning 
was  given  to  many  passages  b}^  a  change  of  words, 
or  even  of  letters.     Perhaps  all  this  has  contrib- 


LITER  AH  Y  DEPRESSION  209 

utecl  to  the  close  study,  as  it  certainly  lias  to  tlie 
wide  range  of  exegesis,  which  these  writings  have 
undergone  during  the  subsequent  ages.  While 
the  real  substance  and  truth  of  the  scriptures  have 
thereby  been  obscured,  they  have  not  been  made 
inaccessible. 

From  this  time  the  literary  spirit  of  the  Jews 
was  chiefly  absorbed  in  expositions  of  the  law  and 
the  production  of  the  tangled  wilderness  of  the 
Targums,  the  Midrashim,  and  the  Talmud.  The 
long  period  of  rabbinical  lore  set  in.  While  the 
liberal  spirit  of  Greece  was  expanding  in  poetry, 
philosophy,  and  art,  in  all  that  civilizes  society 
and  embellishes  life,  the  genius  of  Israel  was  un- 
dergoing an  artificial  atrophy.  It  was  bandaged 
and  sw^athed  and  plastered  with  gums,  but  it  was 
never  completely  mummified.  Its  persistent  vital- 
ity could  not  be  extinguished,  and  after  various 
spasmodic  eruptions  it  was  destined  to  break 
forth  with  an  energy,  with  a  direction,  and  with 
consequences  never  dreamed  of  by  the  prophets 
in  their  most  exalted  moments,  though  proceeding 
from  the  fires  that  glowed  in  their  ardent  souls. 


14 


XXXVII 

THE  ALEXANDEIAN  VEESION 

The  later  history  of  the  Jews  as  a  people  has 
little  relation  to  the  purpose  of  this  volume.  After 
the  conquest  of  Asia  Minor  and  Lower  Egypt  by 
Alexander,  and  the  destruction  of  the  Persian  em- 
pire, Palestine  was  harried  by  contests  between 
the  rulers  of  the  Egyptian  and  the  Syrian  prov- 
inces of  the  Macedonian  power.  Many  Jews  were 
carried  captive  to  the  new  Grecian  capital  of 
Alexandria,  where  a  liberal  measure  of  freedom 
was  accorded  to  them,  and  where  they  soon  formed 
a  flourishing  colony.  A  somewhat  similar  colony 
grew  up  at  Antioch,  the  new  Grecian  capital  of 
Syria.  At  both  these  points  there  was  not  only 
more  political  freedom  than  at  Jerusalem,  where 
the  high-priests  were  permitted  to  hold  local  sway 
under  the  Greek  governors,  but  more  rehgious  and 
intellectual  freedom.  In  fact  under  this  freedom 
Alexandria  became  the  chief  centre  of  mental  and 
moral  activity  for  the  Jews. 

By  force  of  circumstances  it  had  to  be  admitted 
that  worship  could  be  conducted  elsewhere  than  at 


THE  ALEXANDRIAN  VERSION  311 

Jerusalem,  and  otherwise  than  under  the  direction 
of  the  temple  priests,  and  there  was  of  necessity  a 
relaxmg  of  some  of  the  observances  of  the  law. 
Out  of  this  situation  grew  the  synagogue,  the  germ 
of  which  had  been  started  by  Ezekiel  in  the  Jew- 
ish quarter  of  Babylon  during  the  captivity,  and 
the  synagogue  not  only  came  to  supersede  the 
temple  but  to  found  the  church.  In  the  course  of 
a  generation  Greek  became  the  language  of  com- 
mon use  among  the  dispersed,  especially  at  Alex- 
andria, where  they  were  cut  off  from  Ai-amaic,  as 
well  as  from  the  language  of  their  fathers,  which 
had  virtually  become  a  dead  and  consecrated 
tongue.  Then  came  the  need  of  a  translation  of 
the  law,  and  of  the  other  books  deemed  sacred, 
which  were  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  their 
religion.  It  was  probably  the  first  direct  transla- 
tion from  one  language  to  another,  and  it  had  all 
the  imperfections  of  a  new  experiment. 

First,  about  the  middle  of  the  thii'd  century  B.C. 
the  Torah  was  rendered  into  Greek  at  Alexandria, 
and  divided  into  five  books,  with  the  names  which 
they  have  borne  ever  since,  and  the  collection  as  a 
v^rhole  was  called  the  Pentateuch  or  five  volumes. 
The  obscurities  of  the  original  were  made  more 
obscure  by  misimderstanding  and  by  a  propensity 
to  use  words  of  one  language  which  corresponded 
to  those  of  the  other  in  a  general  way,  with  little 


212  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPT U RES 

regard  for  shades  of  meaning.  It  was  rather  a 
transcription  from  one  tongue  to  another  than  a 
translation  of  the  meaning  of  one  into  the  other, 
and  yet  strange  liberties  were  sometimes  taken 
with  the  original  to  suit  ideas  of  the  transcriber. 
Additions  of  other  books  were  made  from  time  to 
time  in  much  the  same  style,  until  what  is  known 
as  the  Septuagint  version  of  the  Bible  was  pro- 
duced, with  the  three  divisions  of  the  Torah,  or 
law,  contained  in  the  Pentateuch  ;  the  Nibiim,  or 
prophets,  which  included  books  of  a  legendary  and 
historical  character ;  and  the  Chetubim,  or  *'  writ- 
ings," called  in  the  Greek  version  "  hagiographa," 
or  holy  writings. 

The  name  Septuagint  sprang  from  a  character- 
istic legend,  spread  abroad  two  or  three  centuries 
after  the  first  translations  were  made,  to  the  effect 
that  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  being  impressed  with 
the  sacredness  and  value  of  the  Hebrew  law  and 
projDhets,  and  the  importance  of  having  them  trans- 
lated for  the  great  library  at  Alexandria,  sent  to 
Eleazer,  the  high-priest  at  Jerusalem,  for  learned 
scribes  to  perform  this  task.  Seventy-two  of  these, 
six  for  each  tribe — no  longer  existent — were  sent 
to  the  enlightened  monarch  and  treated  by  him 
with  great  consideration.  Each  one  in  a  separate 
cell  made  the  entire  translation  in  seventy-two 
days,  and  the  work  of  all  corresponded  to  a  dot, 


THE  ALEXANDRIAN  VERSION  213 

affording  indubitable  evidence  that  the  whole  was 
inspired  and  had  all  the  sanctity  of  the  original. 

It  is  wonderful  how  long  this  "  pious  "  fiction  Avas 
treated  seriously,  but  it  was  only  a  development  of 
the  same  characteristic  which  attributed  the  law  in 
all  stages  of  its  growth  to  Moses,  and  finally  cred- 
ited to  him  the  actual  authorship  of  the  Pentateuch, 
and  which  gave  the  poetry  and  music  of  the  nation 
to  David  and  its  wisdom  to  Solomon.  It  was  the 
same  characteristic  which  in  later  efforts  to  exalt 
the  scriptures  of  the  Jews,  and  to  impress  upon  the 
Greeks  and  Egyptians  the  sanctity  of  the  race 
from  which  they  sprang,  invented  new  stories  of 
Abraham,  Joseph,  and  Moses,  and  of  various 
prophets,  and  boldly  forged  and  falsified  citations 
from  Greek  literature  paying  homage  to  them. 
Common  honesty  is  a  product  of  the  exigencies 
and  the  scrutiny  of  modern  civilization,  and  a 
scrupulous  regard  for  truth  is  a  late  achievement 
of  mankind  not  yet  perfected.  Disingenuousness 
and  craft  are  not  less  characteristic  of  the  oriental 
than  of  the  occidental  mind,  whether  in  ancient  or 
modern  times.  In  this  respect  the  Semitic  race 
did  not  differ  widely  from  those  with  which  it  was 
related,  unless  in  a  superior  keenness  and  persist- 
ency. 

What  is  called  the  Septuagint  version  of  the 
Jewish  scriptures  contained  many  variations  from 


214  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

the  original  text,  mau}^  imperfect  and  misleading 
translations,  and  it  was  the  product  of  different 
hands  at  different  times.  Additions  were  made  to 
it  after  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  and  it 
contained  several  books  which  were  ultimately  re- 
jected. But  it  was  the  Bible  of  the  Jews,  not  only 
in  Egypt  but  in  Asia  Minor,  and  it  became  the 
Bible  of  the  first  Christians.  Doubtless  its  accept- 
ance by  the  latter  stimulated  a  reaction  against 
it  among  devout  Jews,  who  then  discovered  its 
faults  and  imperfections,  and  reverted  to  their 
ancient  texts.  These  had  become  various  and 
more  or  less  corrupt,  but  in  process  of  time  an 
accepted  text  was  established,  and  a  Hebrew  ver- 
sion of  the  Old  Testament  displaced  the  Septu- 
agint  as  the  basis  of  later  translations. 


xxxvin 

A  NEW  AGONY  AND  ITS  EESULT 

While  the  Jews  of  Alexandria  were  translating 
the  scriptures  and  magnifying  them  with  fabulous 
stories  about  their  origin,  and  even  subjecting 
them  to  fanciful  exegesis  to  win  converts  to  their 
faith,  the  priests  at  Jerusalem  continued  to  nurse 
the  exclusive  spirit  of  Judaism.  Palestine  was 
torn  by  the  contest  for  its  possession  between 
Egypt  and  Syria ;  but  after  Antiochus  the  Great 
brought  it  under  the  sway  of  the  latter  it  had  the 
benefit  of  a  liberal  policy  for  a  time.  The  only 
notable  literary  production  of  the  period,  "the 
Wisdom  of  Jesus  the  Son  of  Sirach,"  though  held 
in  liigh  esteem,  was  not  in  the  end  admitted  to  the 
category  of  sacred  books.  It  was  only  when  the 
tyranny  and  persecution  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes, 
toward  the  middle  of  the  second  century  B.C., 
brought  on  a  slow  torture  which  caused  a  fierce 
revulsion  and  aroused  some  of  the  ancient  warlike 
spirit  of  the  race,  that  a  late  addition  to  those 
books  Avas  made. 

The  old  tendency  of  the  Hebrew  race  to  divide 


216  THE  JEWISH  SCRirTb^RES 

appeared  under  the  terrible  pressure.  Some  vrere 
repelled  by  the  stern  Puiitanism  and  rigid  require- 
ments of  the  hierarchy  of  the  "  holy  city."  They 
were  also  attracted  by  the  liberal  spirit  and  easy- 
going practices  of  the  Greeks,  and  readily  fell 
away  from  the  ancient  faith.  Antioch  was  be- 
coming a  city  of  splendor  and  luxury,  fascinating 
to  the  worldly  minded,  and  the  Syiian  monarch 
had  fayors  and  rewards  for  those  who  attached 
themselves  to  his  service.  When  it  came  to  a 
choice  between  the  worldly  advantages  of  submis- 
sive loyalty  to  the  sovereign  and  the  suffering  of 
persecution  for  fidelity  to  religious  faith,  the  usual 
result  followed.  The  indifferent,  the  time-serving, 
the  self-indulgent,  accepted  the  comfortable  course 
of  acquiescence,  while  in  the  earnest  and  devoted 
the  spirit  of  resistance  was  aroused  even  unto 
martyrdom.  The  blood  of  the  martyrs  was  first 
made  fruitful  by  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  and  those 
martyrs  were  the  faithful  Jews  of  more  than  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half  before  the  Christian  era. 

The  Hellenizing  party  got  control  of  the  high- 
priesthood,  and  the  last  representative  of  the  line 
of  Zadok  was  assassinated.  Antiochus  was  pos- 
sessed with  the  mad  purpose  of  exterminating  the 
ancient  religion  of  Israel.  Some  of  its  most  cher- 
ished rites  were  made  capital  offences,  and  its 
ordinary  practices  were  suppressed  Avitli  cruel  pen- 


A  NEW  AGONY  AND  ITS  RESULT  217 

alties.  Faithful  Jews  were  driven  out  or  deported 
from  Jerusalem  and  its  environs,  and  every  out- 
rage Avas  committed  upon  the  city  and  the  temple. 
An  image  of  the  Olympian  Zeus  was  set  up  be- 
hind the  great  altar,  and  the  observances  of  the 
Greek  worship  were  ruthlessly  forced  upon  those 
who  detested  it.  It  seemed  as  though  the  God  of 
the  Hebrews  had  forsaken  them  in  their  dire  dis- 
tress. The  promise  of  national  glory  as  a  reward 
for  righteousness  had  failed,  perhaps  on  account 
of  the  perverse  persistency  of  so  many  in  unright- 
eousness. The  doctrine  that  the  wicked  were 
doomed  to  suffer  and  perish,  while  those  who 
obeyed  the  commands  of  Jehovah  would  find  rec- 
ompense in  comfort  and  long  life,  seemed  to  be 
belied  by  experience.  But  ever  in  a  remnant  of 
the  race  faith  in  the  God  of  Jacob  was  indom- 
itable. 

At  last  the  desperate  revolt  against  intolerable 
persecution  found  leadership  in  the  old  priest 
Mattathiah  and  his  five  sons,  and  from  these 
sprang  that  redoubtable  warrior,  Judas  Macca- 
baeus,  who  rallied  the  fighting  spirit  of  his  race  in 
the  mountains  and  fastnesses  of  Judea,  drawing  to 
himself  the  ardent  and  devoted  patriots,  not  of  a 
nation  but  of  a  religion,  as  David  had  drawn  the 
disaffected  and  the  outlaws  of  his  day.  It  was  to 
stimulate  and  inspire  this  heroic  band  that  the 


218  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

Book  of  Daniel  aj)peared,  from  a  source  now  un- 
known and  probably  shrouded  in  mystery  at  the 
time.  It  was  not  historical  and  it  was  not  pro- 
phetic in  the  old  sense.  It  was  partly  fictitious, 
largely  allegorical,  and  in  its  conclusion  it  was 
what  came  to  be  called  apocalyptic ;  but  in  rela- 
tion to  the  events  of  the  time  its  main  purpose  is 
plain.  It  was  intended  to  show  what  Jehovah 
could  do  and  would  do  against  all  odds,  for  those 
who  were  faithful  to  him,  and,  if  it  departed  from 
facts  in  relating  what  he  had  done,  it  was  true  to 
the  faith  that  inspired  it.  The  fiction  was  illus- 
trative. In  the  allegorical  representation  of  the 
nations  and  rulers  of  the  past  there  was  much 
historical  inaccuracy,  but  it  served  the  purpose  of 
leading  up  effectively  to  the  monstrous  deeds  of 
Antiochus  Epiphanes,  and  depicting  their  conse- 
quences. 

But  the  greatest  need  in  the  straggle  was  some 
new  hope,  some  new  promise  of  restoration. 
Never  in  the  long  history  of  the  race  and  the  va- 
ried development  of  its  religion  had  the  Hebrew 
mind  opened  to  a  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the 
human  soul.  No  teacher  or  priest  or  prophet  had 
ventured  to  promise  recompense  or  threaten  pun- 
ishment beyond  this  life.  No  psalmist  in  his 
most  depressed  or  most  exalted  moments  dreamed 
of  happiness  beyond  the  grave.     In  this  religion 


A  NUW  AGONY  AND  ITS  RESULT  219 

there  was  little  that  was  soft  or  sentimental,  noth- 
ing visionary  that  reached  beyond  the  horizon  of 
the  earth.  It  was  a  masculine  religion  and  a  re- 
ligion of  this  world.  In  the  terrible  crisis,  when 
Judas,  "  the  hammer  of  God,"  raised  his  arm 
against  the  Grecian  tyrant  of  Syria,  faith  de- 
manded an  outlet  from  this  iron  doom.  Though 
the  easy  belief  of  the  imaginative  Greeks  and 
speculative  Persians  in  a  life  beyond  the  tomb 
was  still  resisted,  as  repugnant  to  the  Semitic 
mode  of  thought,  in  the  mystic  visions  of  Daniel 
the  doctrine  of  resurrection  was  born,  and  there 
was  promise  that  "  many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the 
dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting 
life  and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt." 

The  present  purpose  has  been  only  to  indicate 
the  events  attending  the  production  of  the  book 
that  conquered  a  place  in  the  sacred  literature  of 
the  Hebrews  long  after  it  was  virtually  closed  to 
new  accessions.  The  fact  that  it  was  admitted 
shows  how  powerful  its  effect  must  have  been,  and 
what  an  enduring  hold  it  took  upon  the  minds 
of  the  devout  Jews.  To  this,  no  doubt,  its  mys- 
terious origin,  its  mystic  character,  and  its  new 
doctrine  powerfully  contributed. 

One  later  book  indeed  there  was,  which  the 
variable  canon  of  the  custodians  of  scripture  final- 
ly allowed  to  stand  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  but  it 


220  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

lias  no  clearly  ascertainable  relation  to  historical 
events.  Judas  triumj)lied  over  the  oppressor,  took 
possession  of  the  beloved  capital  of  his  people, 
and  restored  the  worship  of  the  Most  High  in  the 
temple.  He  became  in  effect  ruler  of  the  Judean 
principality,  and,  after  a  further  struggle  in  which 
his  brother  Jonathan  played  a  conspicuous  part 
as  a  warrior,  its  autonomy  was  established.  Its 
first  acknowledged  head  was  the  high-priest 
Simon,  another  of  the  five  sons  of  Mattathiah, 
whose  sovereignty  began  in  143  B.C.  This  period 
of  virtual  independence  lasted  until  the  Roman 
conquest  of  Asia  Minor  by  Pompey,  B.C.  63,  and 
was  characterized  by  the  appearance  of  Apocalyp- 
tic and  Messianic  writings  of  much  significance, 
and  the  development  of  the  sects  of  Sadducees, 
Pharisees,  Essenians,  and  other  products  of  the 
irrepressible  tendency  to  schism. 

All  these  have  no  direct  relation  to  the  Old 
Testament  literature,  but  one  of  the  gems  of  the 
collection,  from  a  secular  point  of  view,  was  pro- 
duced later,  perhaps,  than  any  of  these.  It  is  the 
philosophical  prose  poem  to  which  the  first  Greek 
translator  in  the  second  century  a.d.,  gave  the 
name  Ecclesiastes,  as  the  equivalent  of  the  four 
Hebrew  consonants,  usually  rendered  Koheleth,  of 
uncertain  meaning,  which  stand  in  the  original  as 
the  designation  of  the  speaker.     The  date  of  its 


A  J^EW  AGOyy  AND  ITS  RESULT  221 

production  cannot  be  fixed  by  internal  or  external 
evidence,  but  it  was  probably  after  the  struggles 
of  the  Asmonean  family  were  over,  and  during  the 
period  of  comparative  calm  that  followed.  It  was 
one  of  the  last  books  to  be  admitted  to  the  canon- 
ical scriptures,  on  account  of  its  heretical  and 
worldly  tone,  and  it  may  owe  its  place  therein  to 
the  solemn  admonitions  of  its  closing  chapter, 
whose  cadences  are  so  exquisitely  rendered  in  our 
English  version. 


BOOKS  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT 


THE   COLLECTION  AS  A  WHOLE 

The  thirty-nine  books  which  constitute  the  Old 
Testament  were  not  finally  accepted  as  the  canon 
of  Jewish  scriptures  until  two  or  three  centuries 
after  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era.  The 
title  of  the  collection  comes  from  an  incorrect 
Latin  rendering  of  the  Greek  equivalent  of  the 
Hebrew  for  the  "  ancient  covenant,"  the  theo- 
cratic system  being  based  upon  an  assumed  agree- 
ment between  Jehovah  and  his  people  Israel. 
The  first  books  to  be  held  sacred  were  those 
which  contained  the  law,  and  these  were  collected 
in  substantially  their  final  form  in  the  time  of 
Ezra  the  scribe,  and  probably  by  him.  Later, 
under  Nehemiah,  the  prophets  were  added,  in- 
cluding the  legendary  and  historical  books  from 
Joshua  to  Kings,  as  well  as  what  have  since  been 
designated  as  the  greater,  and  the  Minor  Proph- 
ets. The  other  writings  were  added  from  time  to 
time,  with  many  variations,  and  there  were  diverse 
opinions  as  to  what  were  to  be  deemed  sacred  and 

what  not. 

15 


336  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

The  Greek  version  of  Alexandria  began  with  the 
law,  which  seems  already  to  have  had  the  fivefold 
division,  and  the  present  names  were  given  to  the 
several  parts,  w^hile  the  whole  was  called  the 
Pentateuch.  But  when  the  collection  known  as 
the  Septuagint  w^as  completed,  it  contained  a 
number  of  books  which  were  ultimately  rejected 
from  the  canon.  These  were  the  two  Books  of 
Esdras,  which  followed  Chronicles ;  Tobit  and 
Judith,  placed  after  Nehemiah  ;  The  Wisdom  of 
Solomon  and  The  Wisdom  of  Jesus  the  Son  of 
Sirach,  also  called  Ecclesiasticus,  after  The  Song 
of  Songs  ;  Baruch,  after  Jeremiah  ;  Susanna,  after 
Daniel ;  and  the  three  Books  of  the  Maccabees,  at 
the  end  of  the  collection.  After  the  canon  was  es- 
tablished these  were  often  put  together  at  the  end 
of  the  volume,  and  designated  as  Apocrypha  (or 
"  liejected  "),  and  for  a  long  time  they  v:ere  quoted 
as  in  a  measure  authoritative. 

The  different  Hebrew  versions  of  the  scriptures 
contained  material  variations,  and  it  was  several 
centuries  after  the  canon  Avas  agreed  upon  before 
there  was  a  fixed  text  universally  accepted  by  the 
Jews,  and  finally  adopted  by  the  Christians.  This 
differed  widely  in  many  points  from  the  Greek 
version,  and  no  man  can  tell  how  far  both  may  have 
wandered  from  the  original  material,  through  errors 
of  transcription,  cxegetical  variations,  and  delib- 


THE  COLLECTION  AS  A   WHOLE  227 

erate  suppressions,  interpolations,  and  perversions. 
The  canon  itself  was  a  matter  of  gradual  consensus 
rather  than  formal  adoption.     Josephus,  in  the  first 
century  a.d.,  speaks  of  the  sacred  books  of  the  Jews 
as  twenty-two  in  number ;  but  Samuel,  Kings,  and 
Chronicles  were  then  rated  as  single  books,  Euth 
was   attached   to   Judges,    and    Lamentations   to 
Jeremiah.     Several  books  now  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment were  excluded  for  a  long  time  on  various 
grounds.     Ezekiel  was  objected  to  as  not  in  har- 
mony with  the  law,  as  finally  determined  ;  The  Song 
of  Songs,  on  account  of  its  worldly  and  possibly 
sensual  quality ;  Proverbs,  on  account  of  inconsist- 
encies ;  Esther,  for  its  lack  of  religious  character, 
and  Ecclesiastes,  as  heretical  in  its  tone.     These 
objections  were  gradually  reasoned  or  explained 
away.      The    arrangement   of   the  books,  beyond 
those  having  a  chronological  relation,  was  variable 
until  after  the  final  fixing  of  the  contents  of  the 
collection. 

No  attempt  will  be  made  here  at  a  close  analy- 
sis or  a  critical  examination  of  these  books.  Any- 
thing like  accuracy  would  be  impossible,  all  sorts 
of  disputed  matters  w^ould  be  broached,  and  the 
process  would  be  confusing  and  tiresome.  The 
]nirpose  is  only  to  give  a  general  idea  of  when  and 
how^  they  were  made  up,  and  to  state,  as  clearly 
and  briefly  as  possible,  their  character  and  signifi- 


223  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPT V'BES 

cance,  so  far  as  it  seems  necessary  to  a  clear  un- 
derstanding. The  object  is  not  to  impress  opinions 
upon  the  reader,  but  to  enable  him  to  form  his 
own,  and  to  add,  if  possible,  to  his  interest  in  the 
process. 


n 

GENESIS 

There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  Book 
of  Genesis  underwent  any  material  change  after 
it  took  its  place,  as  a  kind  of  historical  introduc- 
tion to  the  Torah,  in  the  time  of  Ezra.  We 
probably  have  it  substantially  as  it  came  from  the 
hands  of  the  compiler,  who  in  the  reign  of  Heze- 
kiah,  at  Jerusalem,  a  few  years  after  the  fall  of 
Samaria  and  the  destruction  of  the  Northern  King- 
dom, undertook  to  unite  into  one  narrative  the  two 
accounts  of  the  origin  and  early  history  of  the  race, 
which  are  known  to  students  of  the  subject  as  the 
Jehovist  and  Elohist  "  documents,"  respectively. 
The  former,  as  we  have  already  seen,  was  produced 
in  the  Northern  Kingdom  in  the  time  of  Jehu,  not 
far  from  850  B.C.,  and  the  latter,  quite  indepen- 
dently, at  Jerusalem,  perhaps  twenty  or  thirty  years 
hiter.  The  Jeho\ist  made  liberal  use  of  the  col- 
lection of  legends  of  the  patriarchs,  which  had 
been  in  existence  since  the  days  of  Jeroboam  L, 
and  the  compiler  of  the  duplex  version  seems  also 
to  have  had   this  in  his  hands,  as  well  as  other 


230  THE  JEWISH  SCHIPTURES 

material  of  which  there  is  no  trace  except  in  his 
use  of  it. 

The  process  of  combination  was  so  inartistic 
that  the  varied  materials  are  quite  distinguisha- 
ble. Inconsistencies  are  not  wholly  effaced,  inco- 
herencies  are  frequent,  and  two  or  three  versions 
of  the  same  tradition  are  sometimes  interwoven 
with  incongruous  effect.  The  opening  account  of 
the  creation,  occupying  the  first  chapter  and  the 
first  three  verses  of  the  second  chapter,  is  that  of 
the  Elohist.  It  is  based  upon  the  Chaldaic  cos- 
mogony, and  contains  the  system  of  six  days  for 
labor  and  the  seventh  for  rest,  which  was  derived 
from  the  Babylonians,  and  was  the  earliest  basis 
of  the  Jewish  observance  of  the  Sabbath. 

The  Jehovist  account  of  the  creation  is  taken  up 
at  chapter  ii.,  verse  4,  and  is  in  some  respects  essen- 
tially different  from  the  other,  though  based  upon 
common  Chaldaic  tradition.  It  contains  the  story 
of  the  Garden  of  Eden,  the  tempter  and  the  fall, 
and  that  of  Cain  and  Abel,  and  it  consequently 
holds  the  germ  of  the  doctrine  of  original  sin. 
The  Elohist  knew  nothing  of  the  first  couple  and 
the  baleful  experience  that  doomed  their  progeny, 
but  represents  man  as  having  been  created  "  male 
and  female,"  like  the  other  aniu:ials,  without  re- 
striction of  number.  When  his  account  is  re- 
sumed  at   chapter   v.,    it    proceeds    to    give    the 


GENESIS  231 

"generations  of  Adam,"  which  in  Chaldaic  was 
a  generic  term  for  man,  as  Eve,  in  the  other  ac- 
count, was  the  "  mother  of  life."  Seth  Avas  the 
only  son  of  Adam  spoken  of  by  the  Elohist,  but 
the  genealogy  of  the  descendants  of  Seth  is  only 
a  variant  of  that  of  the  descendants  of  Cain  given 
in  the  other  account,  and  both  are  based  upon  the 
mythical  antediluvian  dynasties  of  the  Chaldeans. 

The  two  accounts  of  the  deluge,  based  upon 
the  same  Babylonian  fable,  differed  little  ex- 
cept in  regard  to  Noah  and  his  family  after  the 
flood,  though  in  combining  the  two  some  con- 
fusion was  produced  in  regard  to  numbers  and 
periods  of  time.  Noah  figured  in  the  old  pa- 
triarchal legends,  but  only  as  a  vine-dresser  and 
the  father  of  husbandry.  There  was  nothing  in 
these  of  the  flood.  It  was  the  Jehovist  v/ho  first 
turned  that  to  account  as  a  means  of  destroying 
the  first  breed  of  mankind  for  their  wickedness, 
one  righteous  person  with  his  family  being  saved 
to  replenish  the  earth.  He  represents  Noah  as 
building  an  altar  and  making  sacrifices  to  placate 
the  Deity  after  the  flood,  while  we  owe  to  the 
Elohist  the  story  of  the  covenant  and  the  bow  of 
promise. 

The  latter  writer  was  much  addicted  to  genealo- 
gies, of  which  there  was  greater  store  at  Jeru- 
salem than  among  the  northern  tribes,  and  from 


232  THE  JEWISH  SVRIPrURES 

this  source  is  tlie  passage  beginning  with  chapt(^r 
X.,  which  purports  to  give  the  origin  of  the  various 
peoples  known  to  the  writer  as  descendants  of 
Noah.  The  names  are  mainly  those  of  places  and 
of  tribes,  and  cover  most  of  the  geography  within 
the  range  of  the  writer's  knowledge.  His  record 
is  broken  by  a  fragment  of  older  material  con- 
taining the  curious  tale  of  the  Tower  of  Babel, 
and  then  a  special  genealogy  of  Shem  is  made  to 
lead  up  to  the  Abraham  legend.  Older  than 
either  of  these  writers  is  the  matter  containing 
the  grosser  passages,  like  the  fragment  concerning 
the  race  of  giants,  the  commerce  of  the  sons  of 
God  with  the  daughters  of  men,  the  drunkenness 
of  Noah,  and  the  story  accounting  for  the  Moabites 
and  Ammonites  as  descendants  of  Lot,  and  con- 
sequently as  in  affinity  with  the  descendants  of 
Abraham.  Chapter  xiv.  is  also  regarded  as  very 
ancient,  and  based  upon  a  real  historical  tradition, 
in  which  Abraham  appears  as  the  chief  of  a  power- 
ful nomadic  clan. 

The  following  chapter,  relating  the  vision  of 
Abrahfim  and  the  promise  of  a  numerous  progeny 
to  possess  the  land  of  Canaan,  is  apparently  older 
than  the  story  of  the  migration  from  Ur  of  tlie 
Chaldees  in  chapter  xii.,  which  is  from  the  pen  of 
the  Jehovist.  The  latter  writer  was  the  first  to  give 
a  religious  turn  to  the  call  of  Abraham,  and  he  laid 


GENESIS  23?, 

special  stress  upon  the  consecration  of  Bethel.  The 
Elohist,  to  whom  the  seventeenth  chapter  mainly 
belongs,  v.as  concerned  to  carry  the  rite  of  circum- 
cision back  to  Abraham  and  gi^'e  it  a  religious 
significance,  as  the  seal  and  token  of  the  covenant 
with  God,  just  as  he  connected  the  distinctively 
Jewish  observance  of  the  Sabbath  with  the  Chal- 
daic  account  of  the  creation.  The  failure  of  the 
compiler  to  efface  the  inconsistencies  in  his  chief 
material  appears  in  two  or  three  imperfectly 
blended  accounts  of  Ishmael,  the  progenitor  of  the 
people  of  the  desert,  and  two  varying  accounts  of 
the  birth  of  Isaac.  In  the  story  of  Sodom  and  the 
destruction  of  the  cities  of  the  plain  the  oldest  ma- 
terial comes  to  the  surface  without  much  change. 

A  curious  example  of  the  way  an  old  tradition 
was  divided  and  recombined  may  be  noted,  by  way 
of  illustrating  the  ancient  process  of  making  books 
which  might  come  to  be  considered  sacred.  The 
old  patriarchal  legends  had  a  story  of  Abraham 
passing  his  wife  off  as  his  sister  with  the  Philistine 
king  of  Gerar.  The  Jeh ovist  made  two  applications 
of  this  antique  incident,  one  to  Abraham  and  Sarah 
in  Egypt,  and  the  other  to  Isaac  and  Eebekah  at 
Gerar,  and  the  compiler  retained  ail  three  of  the 
versions.  The  duj^lication  of  the  same  tradition 
in  connection  with  Abraham  and  Isaac  also  ap- 
pears in  the  contest  over  ihe  welis  and  the  naming 


334  THE  JEWISH  SCH[PTURES 

of  Beersheba,  though  the  compiler  made  a  slight 
effort  to  gloss  it  over  with  the  assumption  that 
the  Philistines  had  filled  up  the  wells  of  Abraham. 
The  traditions  of  the  ancient  clan  of  the  Isaakel 
were  faint  at  best  and  had  become  mingled  with 
those  of  Abraham  and  Jacob. 

The  compiler  of  Genesis  blended  the  two  ver- 
sions of  Abraham's  migrations  and  the  birth  of  his 
children  in  a  rather  perplexing  manner,  but  the 
idyllic  tale  of  the  marriage  of  Isaac  and  Kebekah, 
the  birth  of  Esau  and  Jacob,  and  the  supplanting 
of  the  elder  of  the  twins  by  the  younger  can  be 
distinguished  as  the  production  of  the  Jeho^dst, 
while  the  genealogist  of  Jerusalem  furnished  the 
account  of  Abraham's  second  marriage  with  Ke- 
turah,  and  in  general  the  "  generations  "  of  his  off- 
spring, including  the  long  list  of  descendants  of 
Esau  in  chapter  xxxvi.,  which  separates  the 
mixed  material  leading  up  to  the  birth  of  the 
tribes  from  the  continuous  and  fairly  harmonious 
account  of  the  "children  of  Israel"  which  follows. 

In  the  combining  of  the  narratives  of  Jacob's 
migiations,  so  much  stress  is  laid  upon  the  conse- 
cration of  Bethel  that  it  was  described  three  times, 
although  it  had  already  been  once  attributed  to 
Abraham.  The  journey  to  Haran  and  the  mar- 
riage with  the  daughter  of  Laban,  symbolic  of  tlie 
relations  of  Syria  with  Palestine,  were  described 


GENESIS  235 

at  length  by  the  Jehovist  from  material  furnished 
by  his  predecessor,  the  author  of  the  patriarchal 
legends,  but  there  are  apparent  traces  of  the  other 
document  in  the  repetitions.  It  is  noticeable  that 
the  writer  of  Jerusalem,  who  was  connected  with 
the  temple,  speaks  of  building  an  altar,  where  the 
other  describes  the  setting  up  of  a  pillar. 

The  Elohist  had  no  hand  in  the  systematic  ac- 
count of  Jacob's  sons,  beginning  with  chapter 
xxxvii.,  and  it  was  drawn  by  the  Jehovist  with 
little  variation  from  the  patriarchal  legends  of  the 
time  of  Jeroboam  I.  These  were  ^vritten  after  the 
characteristics  of  the  several  tribes  were  fully  de- 
veloped ;  and  their  ethnological  significance  has 
been  considered  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  volume. 
The  compiler,  writing  after  the  Northern  King- 
dom had  passed  away,  and  when  there  was  hope 
of  reuniting  the  scattered  tribes  into  one  nation, 
took  little  pains  to  subdue  the  strong  Northern 
tone  and  spirit  of  the  narrative.  The  exaltation 
of  Joseph,  the  preference  of  Ephraim  to  Manas- 
seh,  the  almost  scurrilous  depreciation  of  Judah, 
and  the  currying  of  favor  with  little  Benjamin, 
which  was  originally  intended  to  detach  it  from 
the  Southern  Kingdom  after  the  division,  are  all 
left  as  evidence  that  the  old  animosities  had  died 
with  the  disasters  of  Samaria. 

The  story  of  Joseph  in  Egypt  was  doubtless 


236  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

wrought  mainly  out  of  material  furnished  by  Jero- 
boam, who  had  enjoyed  high  favor  in  that  country  ; 
and  in  its  main  lines  it  corresponds  with  the  old 
Egyptian  tale  of  the  ''  Two  Brothers."  The  experi- 
ence with  Potiphar's  wife  is  an  incident  common 
to  several  oriental  tales,  while  dreams  and  inter- 
pretations thereof  were  stock  material  for  this  kind 
of  folk-lore.  Vivid  and  realistic  as  these  descrip- 
tions were  made  by  the  genius  who  first  put  in 
form  the  old  traditions  of  Israel  and  mingled  in 
them  so  much  poetic  radiance  and  ethnic  value, 
their  only  historic  basis  Avas  the  broad  fact  of  the 
refuge  of  the  ancient  tribe  or  tribes  in  Egypt,  in  a 
time  of  protracted  famine,  and  their  continued  so- 
journ there  until  they  fell  under  oppression. 

The  so-called  blessing  of  Jacob,  in  chapter  xlix., 
probably  did  not  belong  to  the  original  material, 
but  was  interpolated  at  some  stage  of  the  process 
of  developing  the  record,  though  it  is  undoubtedly 
an  early  production  of  the  Northern  Kingdom,  por- 
traying the  characteristics  of  the  tribes  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  Ephraimites.  Some  of  its  ob- 
scurities give  evidence  of  alteration  to  harmonize 
with  Judean  views.  It  contains  distinct  allusions, 
not  only  to  the  situation  of  the  tribes,  but  to 
events  in  their  experience,  and  there  is  about  as 
much  cursing  as  blessing  in  its  tone.  After  the 
old  bitterness  of  tribal  division  had  passed  away, 


OENESIS  237 

the  picture  was  developed,  softened,  and  made  more 
harmonious  in  the  farewell  blessing  attributed  to 
Moses  at  the  end  of  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy. 

The  compiler  of  the  Book  of  Genesis  left  inter- 
nal evidence  that  his  material  was  produced  long 
after  the  events  to  which  it  was  supposed  to  re- 
late, in  such  phrases  as  "unto  this  day,"  "the 
Canaanite  was  then  in  the  land,"  "before  there 
reigned  any  king  over  the  children  of  Israel,"  etc. 
The  theological  and  moral  conceptions  are  natu- 
rally those  of  the  writers  whose  language  was 
adopted,  and  fortunately  they  were  not  essentially 
modified  in  the  processes  of  compiling  and  copy- 
ing to  which  these  books  were  so  long  subjected. 
A  polytheistic  tendency  is  observable  in  the  old- 
est fragments,  as  in  the  references  to  the  "  sons  of 
God"  who  begot  demi-gods  or  "men  of  renown," 
to  the  "  men  "  who  visited  Abraham  under  the  oaks 
of  Mamre  and  Lot  in  the  city  of  Sodom,  and  the 
"  angels  "  who  descended  on  the  heights  of  Luz. 

The  harsh  and  gloomy  conception  of  the  Deity 
which  was  developed  in  the  accounts  of  Moses  ap- 
pears in  the  Jehovist's  episodes  of  the  Garden  of 
Eden,  Cain  and  Abel,  the  destruction  of  mankind 
by  the  flood,  and  the  dispersion  of  the  tower- 
builders;  but,  in  the  main,  the  Deity  is  embodied 
in  human  form  and  endowed  with  huuKin  attri- 
butes only  mildly  exaggerated.     He  walks  in  the 


238  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

garden  in  the  cool  of  the  daj^  he  shuts  Noah  in 
the  ark,  he  goes  down  to  "  see  the  city  and  tower 
which  the  children  of  men  builded,"  and  he  goes 
down  to  see  whether  the  people  of  Sodom  are  as 
bad  as  they  are  reported  to  be.  In  short,  the  con- 
ception is  like  that  of  children,  and  characteristic 
of  the  childhood  of  the  race. 

The  moral  conceptions  of  the  time  of  the  vmters 
were  equally  crude.  Acts  which  would  now  be 
regarded  as  odious  and  repulsive  are  related  with 
a  naive  indifference  to  their  moral  quality  ;  fraud- 
ulent and  deceitful  practices  are  spoken  of  with 
implied  approbation,  and  the  wickedness  which 
excited  the  resentment  of  the  Almighty  seems  to 
have  consisted  chiefly  in  the  pride,  presumption, 
and  violence  of  men,  when  they  set  out  to  display 
power  and  activity  on  their  own  account.  This 
was  jealously  treated  as  an  attempt  to  rival  divin- 
ity. In  the  thrice-told  incident  of  the  patriarch 
and  his  wife  in  a  strange  land  there  is  question 
only  of  the  man's  safety,  not  of  the  woman's  chas- 
tity. Abimelech's  offence  consisted  in  encroach- 
ing upon  the  husband's  exclusive  right,  in  the  ori- 
ental sense.  The  ethical  quality  in  Genesis  is 
hardly  greater  or  higher  than  in  the  "  Odyssey  "  of 
Homer,  but  the  book  is  a  treasury  in  which  the  old- 
est traditions  of  the  Hebrew  race  Avere  stored,  with- 
out art  or  skill,  but  with  wonderful  conipactness. 


Ill 

THE  BOOKS  CONTAINING  THE  LAW 

The  chief  purpose  in  making  the  first  collection 
of  books  which  came  to  be  regarded  as  sacred 
by  the  Jews,  and  by  their  two  lines  of  religious 
heirs,  was  to  embody  the  "laws"  which  had  accu- 
mulated in  an  irregular  mass  during  many  genera- 
tions. While  these  were  spoken  of  as  "  laws  "  and 
"  ordinances,"  and  as  "  statutes,"  as  well  as  "  com- 
mands," they  were  never  regarded  as  enactments 
to  be  enforced  by  secular  authority,  but  as  rules 
of  conduct  having  a  divine  sanction.  They  were 
finally  included,  in  a  broken  and  scattered  way, 
in  the  Books  of  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numbers,  and 
Deuteronomy,  but  additions  or  repetitions  are 
found  in  the  Book  of  Joshua,  which  properly  be- 
longs to  the  same  series.  They  were  connected 
with  narrative  passages,  in  part  of  older  material 
and  in  part  specially  designed  to  introduce  or  to 
give  stress  to  the  various  commands.  Genesis  is 
associated  with  the  leading  puri)ose  of  these  books 
only  through  the  "  covenants  "  of  Jehovah,  or  Elo- 
him,  with   Abraham,  Isaac,  and   Jacob,  and   the 


a40  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTUIiKS 

promises  by  v/liicli  the  people  vv^ere  bound  by  self- 
interest  to  the  observance  of  the  commands  made 
in  his  name. 

There  is  little  trace  in  these  books  of  the 
patriarchal  legends,  but  the  oldest  of  the  nar- 
rative parts  are  derived  mainly  from  the  equally 
ancient  collection,  the  Wars  of  Jehovah,  or  the 
Book  of  Jasher.  It  is  not  certain  that  Moses 
figured  in  either  of  those  repositories  of  antique 
tradition,  even  as  the  leader  of  the  deliverance 
from  Egyptian  bondage,  but  he  appeared  in  that 
character  in  both  the  Jehovist  and  Elohist  docu- 
ments, from  which  the  first  twenty-four  chapters 
of  Exodus  were  mostly  compiled.  As  a  law-giver 
he  was  a  later  development.  The  narrative  which 
leads  up  to  the  great  scene  at  Mount  Sinai  is 
mostly  that  of  the  Jehovist,  but  there  are  varia- 
tions and  repetitions,  and  fragments  of  genealogy, 
which  betray  the  hand  of  the  Elohist,  and  there 
are  also  some  traces  of  the  still  older  material. 
The  triumphal  song  after  the  passage  of  the  Eed 
Sea,  which  is  contained  in  chapter  xv.,  has  been 
attributed  to  the  Elohist  writer,  on  account  of  the 
magnifjdng  of  the  sanctuary  at  Jerusalem,  but 
that  can  only  be  taken  as  evidence  that  it  was  not 
the  work  of  the  Jehovist.  Its  language  indicates 
that  it  was  later  than  either,  and  it  was  probably 
introduced  by  one  of   the  subsequent  compilers. 


THE  BOOKS  CONTAININO    THE  LAW  241 

In  style  and  subject  it  is  similar  to  Psalms  cv. 
and  cvi.,  and  lilte  them  may  have  been  part  of 
the  floating  material  relating  to  the  Exodus, 
wrought  out  of  the  old  oral  traditions. 

There  is  nothing  strange  in  the  familiarity  with 
Egypt  and  its  customs  and  traditions  shown  by  a 
writer  of  the  Northern  Kingdom  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury B.C.  There  was  constant  communication  be- 
tween that  country  and  Syria  and  Phoenicia,  and 
the  great  caravan  route  passed  over  the  territory 
of  Israel.  The  horses  and  chariots  of  kings  and 
the  luxurious  appointments  of  princes  came  mostly 
from  Egypt.  Solomon  trafficked  v/ith  the  land  of 
the  Nile  and  allied  himself  with  its  reigning  fam- 
ily. Jeroboam  was  not  the  only  political  exile 
who  took  refuge  there,  and  of  all  foreign  lands  it 
contributed  most  to  the  knowledge  possessed  by 
the  earlier  Hebrew  writers.  There  was  plenty  of 
material  out  of  which  to  construct  the  story  of  the 
escape  from  bondage,  and  some  of  it  can  be  traced 
to  its  origin  in  Egyptian  fable. 

The  first  chapters  of  Exodus  are  devoted  largely 
to  magnifying  the  power  of  Jehovah,  as  a  prelude  to 
the  promulgation  of  his  law.  He  is  represented  as 
bringing  disaster  after  disaster  upon  Egypt,  punish- 
ing the  innocent  multitude  for  the  wrong-doing  of 
their  rulers,  avowedly  as  a  display  of  terrible  power. 
The  conception  of  the  Deity  contained  in  these  chap- 
16 


242  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

ters  is  not  attractive,  but  it  was  that  of  tlie  authors  of 
the  first  Jewish  law,  and  was  calculated  to  impress 
the  people  for  whom  they  wrote.  It  underwent  some 
modification  in  the  process  of  developing  the  Torah. 

The  Book  of  the  Covenant,  originally  embodied 
in  the  Jehovist  narrative,  is  contained  in  chapter 
XX.,  verse  24,  to  chapter  xxiii.  19  of  the  Book  of 
Exodus,  while  the  Decalogue  in  the  earlier  part  of 
chapter  xx.  appeared  in  the  Elohist  document. 
The  writer  w^ho  combined  the  two  primitive  ac- 
counts included  both  these  versions  of  Jehovah's 
first  commands  to  his  people,  and  connected  them 
with  the  story  of  the  awful  demonstration  on  Mount 
Sinai.  Chapter  xxiv.  of  Exodus  is  a  later  resume  of 
divine  commands,  and  the  narrative  of  events  is 
not  taken  up  again  with  anything  like  continuity, 
until  we  reach  the  twentieth  chapter  of  the  Book 
of  Numbers. 

Thus  the  beginning  of  the  Jewish  Torah,  con- 
tained in  the  four  central  chapters  of  the  Book  of 
Exodus,  emanated  almost  simultaneously  from  the 
sanctuary  of  the  Northern  prophets,  of  what  is 
sometimes  called  "the  school  of  Elijah,"  in  the 
time  of  Jehu,  and  from  the  i)urlieus  of  the  first 
temple  at  Jerusalem  in  the  days  of  Joash.  It  was 
the  subject  of  progressive  development  from  that 
time  to  the  completion  of  the  Pentateuch.  New 
prescriptions  were  no  doubt  put  in  writing  from 


THE  BOOKS  CONTAINING   THE  LA  W  243 

time  to  time,  but  the  first  great  promulgation  of 
tlie  law  was  made  in  the  time  of  Josiah  and  under 
the  influence  of  Jeremiah.  It  was  then  presented 
in  a  formal  and  systematic  way,  indicative  of  stud- 
ied preparation,  and  in  a  style  quite  different  from 
that  of  the  early  narratives.  It  was  in  effect  a 
codification  of  what  was  henceforth  to  be  recrarded 
as  "  the  law,"  and  was  put  in  the  form  of  state- 
ments by  Moses  of  what  Jehovah  had  commanded. 
This  code  extends  from  chapter  iv.,  verse  44,  to 
the  end  of  chapter  xxviii.  of  the  Book  of  Deuter- 
onomy, and  was  probably  not  much  changed  in 
later  redactions. 

The  introductory  chapters  of  Deuteronomy,  in 
which  Moses  is  portrayed  as  rehearsing  to  the  peo- 
ple in  the  land  of  Moab  the  story  of  their  previous 
wanderings,  and  announcing  his  commission  to 
declare  the  statutes  and  judgments  of  God  for  their 
future  guidance,  and  the  three  chaj^ters  following 
the  statement  of  the  law,  in  which  he  is  represented 
as  impressing  upon  the  people  the  importance  of 
its  observance,  and  as  writing  it  out  as  a  parting 
legacy  to  Israel,  and  also  as  devolving  the  leader- 
ship thereafter  upon  Joshua,  were  supplied  sub- 
sequently as  a  framework  of  the  system. 

At  the  same  or  possibly  a  different  time  two 
poems  were  appended  to  the  book  which  are  older 
in  composition  than  the  main  body  of  it.     These 


244  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

are  known  as  the  Song  of  Moses  and  the  Bless- 
ing of  Moses.  The  former,  in  chapter  xxxii.,  is 
considered  by  some  as  belonging  to  the  material 
of  the  old  narratives,  but  it  has  the  character- 
istics of  the  earlier  psalms,  and  appears  to  be- 
long to  the  period  of  prophetic  appeals  and  re- 
monstrances, when  the  people  were  subject  to  the 
allurements  of  alien  deities.  The  Blessing  in 
chapter  xxxiii.  is  equally  foreign  to  the  context, 
but  wholly  different  in  character  and  style  from 
the  Song.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  develoi3- 
ment  and  rectification  of  the  so-called  "blessing" 
of  Jacob,  near  the  end  of  Genesis,  more  symmet- 
rical and  finished  in  form  and  in  a  different  tone. 
It  was  probably  written  after  the  fall  of  Samaria, 
when  the  bitterness  of  the  old  division  of  the 
tribes  had  been  allayed  by  the  misfortunes  of 
Ephraim,  and  the  hope  of  reunion  was  still  cher- 
ished. At  all  events,  it  is  in  a  much  softer  spirit 
than  the  ancient  benediction  j^ut  in  the  mouth  of 
the  dying  patriarch. 

Between  the  two  poems  and  following  the  second 
one  we  find  brolcen  passages  of  narrative,  Avinding 
up  the  career  of  Moses  and  leaving  the  leadership 
to  Joshua.  These  are  among  the  finishing  touches 
of  the  Pentateuch,  applied  after  the  various  parts 
of  the  Torah  had  been  collected  and  woven  together 
in  the  time  of  Ezra. 


THE  BOOKS  CONTAINING    THE  LAW  245 

Meantime  the  Levitical  law  had  been  taking 
form,  beginning  in  the  captivity,  when  Ezekiel  in- 
dulged in  visions  of  the  restoration  of  Israel,  the 
reconstruction  of  the  great  sanctuary,  the  establish- 
ment of  a  regular  and  permanent  priesthood,  and 
a  highly  developed  system  of  the  worship  of  Jeho- 
vah, as  a  safeguard  for  the  future  of  the  nation. 
In  the  last  nine  chapters  of  the  book  bearing  his 
name  the  prophet  set  forth  his  ideal  plan  for  the 
division  and  distribution  of  the  people,  the  re- 
building of  the  temple,  the  provision  for  the  priests 
and  Levites,  and  the  forms  and  observances  of 
v/orship  in  the  time  to  come.  He  was  particularly 
concerned  for  the  establishment  of  a  regular  hier^ 
arcliy,  the  support  of  which  should  be  a  sacred 
duty,  and  he  laid  down  rules  regarding  offerings 
and  sacrifices.  A  provisional  code,  conforming  to 
the  outline  and  general  ideas  of  his  vision  of  the 
future  temple  and  its  service,  was  drawn  up,  if  not 
by  him,  surely  under  his  influence.  This  consti- 
tuted the  basis  upon  which  the  Levitical  system 
was  developed,  but  its  development  was  the  work 
of  the  priests,  when  the  practical  task  of  restoring 
the  temple  had  been  accomplished  and  its  service 
was  organized. 

The  first  Levitical  code,  included  in  chapters 
xviii.  to  xxvi.  of  the  Book  of  Leviticus,  was  lib- 
erally expanded,  and  into  it  were  gathered  many 


346  THE  JEWISH  SCRTPTURES 

prescriptions  regarding  personal  cleanliness  and 
health,  public  sanitary  matters,  social  conduct 
and  general  morality,  according  to  the  crude  con- 
ceptions of  the  times  in  which  they  originated. 
Numerous  variations  and  repetitions  indicate  an 
accumulation  from  the  past  rather  than  fresh  ]Dro- 
duction.  In  the  final  compilation  of  the  books  of 
the  law  we  find  these  scattered,  with  little  regu- 
larity of  form  or  coherency  of  statement,  between 
Exodus  xxiv.  and  Numbers  xx.,  and  in  the  last 
chapters  of  the  latter  book. 

From  the  time  of  Josiah  the  effort  to  centralize 
worship  at  Jerusalem  and  to  exalt  the  temple  as 
an  object  of  reverence  was  persistent,  and  that 
idea  was  the  main  inspiration  of  Ezekiel's  visions 
when  he  dreamed  of  the  restoration.  It  was 
strongly  impressed  upon  those  who  led  the  re- 
turning exiles  from  Babylon,  and  who  organized 
the  service  of  the  new  temple.  The  aim,  never 
lost  sight  of  under  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  was  the 
religious  unification  of  the  restored  people,  and 
their  exclusion  from  the  seductive  influences  that 
had  led  their  fathers  astray. 

With  this  view  the  hierarchy  was  assiduously 
built  up,  and  its  origin  was  associated  Avith  the 
oldest  traditions  of  the  Hebrews.  In  fact,  it  was 
attributed  directly  to  the  Deity,  acting  through 
his  first  great  prophet,  Moses.     Aaron,  who  was 


THE  BOOKS  COyTAINiyfG    THE  LAW  247 

known  by  tradition  to  tlie  earlier  writers  only  as  a 
brother  and   counsellor  of  Moses,  was  made  tlie 
father  of  the  priesthood  and  the  first  high-priest, 
and  he  and  his  descendants  were  consecrated  by 
the  Almighty  to  His  own   special   service.     The 
Levites,  who  had  become  a  considerable  class,  re- 
ceived a  special  sanction  for  their  duties,  and  their 
support  was  made  a  religious  obligation  by  divine 
injunction,  derived  from  the  mysterious  antiquity 
of  the   sojourn   in  the   wilderness.     The   temple 
itself,  its  inner  sanctuary,  its  altar  and  sacrificial 
appliances,  were  associated  with  the  same  remote 
origin  by  creating  a  prototype  for  it  in  the  Ark  of 
the  Covenant  and  the  Tent  of  Meeting. 

Hence  it  was  that  elaborate  descriptions  of  the 
construction  of  the  ark  in  the  wilderness  and  of 
its  various  appurtenances,  and  of  the  making  of 
rich  vestments  for  the  priests,  together  with  pre- 
scriptions for  rites,  ceremonies,  and  observances, 
proper  to  an  organized  priesthood,  were  woven 
into  the  narrative  of  the  sojourn  in  the  desert  of 
Pharan.  The  combination  of  Egyptian,  Phoeni- 
cian, and  Assyrian  material  and  art  was  quite  as 
conspicuous  as  in  the  earlier  descriptions  of  the 
temple  of  Solomon.  The  writers  were  so  much 
more  concerned  for  their  purpose  of  getting  the 
solemn  sanction  of  Jehovah  through  Mosos  for 
their  new  ecclesiastical  system,  that  they  gave  no 


348  THE  JEWISH  SCRTPTURES 

lieed  to  the  demaucls  or  probability.  They  dis- 
regarded the  absurdity  of  supposing  that  in  the 
desert  solitudes  about  Mount  Sinai,  the  harassed 
people  could  make  offerings  of  acacia  wood,  rich 
fabrics,  costly  metals,  and  precious  stones,  and 
could  work  with  Tyrian  art  the  gorgeous  par- 
aphernalia of  a  portable  sanctuary  and  the  ap- 
pliances of  a  systematic  and  complicated  wor- 
ship. 

The  descriptions  v/hicli  begin  in  the  twenty-fifth 
chapter  of  Exodus  unquestionably  date  from  the 
establishment  of  the  priesthood  and  service  of  the 
second  temple,  and  were  intended  to  connect  these 
with  a  sacred  origin  in  the  wilderness.  Between 
the  description  given  in  the  instructions  to  Moses 
and  its  repetition  in  tht3  account  of  their  execu- 
tion there  are  some  fragments  of  older  narrative, 
interspersed  with  repetition  of  commands  and  in- 
junctions. The  episode  of  the  golden  calf  may 
have  been  intended  as  a  warning  against  such  of- 
fences as  that  of  Jeroboam,  the  son  of  Nebat,  who 
set  up  a  golden  calf  at  each  of  the  chief  sanctu- 
aries of  the  Northern  tribes,  when  he  returned 
from  Egyj)t  to  become  the  ruler  of  the  new  king- 
dom. The  continual  stress  laid  upon  commands 
against  idolatry  and  the  worship  of  the  gods  of 
Canaan  evidently  came  from  the  bitter  experiences 
through   which   the   people   had   already  passed, 


THE  BOOKS   CONTAINING    THE  LAW  249 

when   this   tissue  of   law  and   legend  was  finally 
wrought. 

The  description  of  the  Tent  of  Meeting  at  the  end 
of  the  Book  of  Exodus  served  to  furnish  an  intro- 
duction to  the  proclamation  of  the  Levitical  pre- 
scriptions as  to  offerings  and  sacrifices,  and  in 
the  course  of  their  statement  incidents  are  inter- 
spersed illustratiye  of  their  application.  The  dan- 
ger of  any  departure  from  their  strict  requirements 
was  impressed  by  the  fate  of  the  sons  of  Aaron, 
when  they  offered  "  strange  fire."  The  rules  regard- 
ing food,  cleanliness,  leprosy,  etc.,  were  a  hetero- 
geneous collection  of  the  crude  ideas  of  the  priests, 
in  matters  of  health  and  personal  habits,  and  their 
interest  is  historical  and  not  moral  or  scientific, 
much  less  rehgious.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the 
curious  trace  of  heathenism  preserved  in  the  ac- 
count of  Azazel,  or  the  Scapegoat. 

The  methods  of  worship  by  sacrifices,  burnt  of- 
ferings, etc.,  were  those  prevalent  at  the  time  among 
all  nations,  and  were  based  upon  the  conception 
of  the  Deity  as  a  dangerous  being  who  must  be 
constantly  placated.  The  formal  code,  first  de- 
vised with  reference  to  the  restoration  of  the 
temple  and  the  establishment  of  the  priesthood,  is 
introduced  with  an  impressive  exordium  in  the 
eighteenth  chapter  of  Leviticus.  An  anecdote  il- 
lustrating the  penalty  for  blasphemy  is  brought  in 


250  THE  JEWISH  SCRTPTUItES 

abriiptl}^  in  cliaptev  xxiv.,  and  the  last  cliapter  of 
the  book  is  an  addition  of  okler  substance.  Tlie 
obvious  diversity  of  material  and  the  imperfect 
way  in  which  it  was  wrought  together  form  a 
striking  corroboration  of  what  can  be  otherwise 
learned  of  the  origin  of  the  completed  Torah  of 
the  Jews. 


IV 

EPISODES  AND  FEAGMENTS.    JOSHUA 

The  enumeration  and  classification  Avhich  is 
contained  in  the  first  chapters  of  the  Book  of 
Numbers,  and  which  gave  that  book  its  title,  con- 
stitute an  artificial  scheme  in  which  the  figures 
are  greatly  exaggerated.  It  was  devised  in  or 
after  the  time  of  the  captivity,  as  an  introduction 
to  the  plan  of  setting  apart  tlie  Levites  and  or- 
ganizing their  service  as  distinct  from  that  of  the 
priests.  The  continual  repetitions  from  the  col- 
lection of  "laws"  in  the  hands  of  the  compilers 
indicate  an  anxiety  on  their  part  to  discard  nothing 
upon  which  the  stamp,  "  the  Lord  spake  unto 
Moses,"  had  been  put.  Here  and  there  a  frag- 
ment of  narrative  apparently  ancient  is  inter- 
jected, sometimes  with  the  evident  purpose  of 
enforcing  some  lesson  and  sometimes  with  no 
evident  purpose,  except  to  preserve  the  fragments 
that  nothing  be  lost.  In  these  we  get  occasional 
glimpses  of  trouble  in  the  camps  in  the  wilderness, 
in  which  Jehovah  interposed  to  punisli  those  who 
rebelled  and  to  vindicate  the  authoritv  of  Moses. 


253  THE  JEWISH  SCRTPTURES 

Wlietlier  there  was  any  basis  in  ancient  tradition 
for  the  storj  of  the  revolt  of  Korah  or  not,  it 
seems  to  have  been  nsed  to  enforce  the  claims  of 
the  descendants  of  Aaron  to  the  exclusive  func- 
tions of  the  priesthood,  and  to  emphasize  the 
newly  established  distinction  between  those  func- 
tions and  the  duties  of  the  Levites. 

The  episode  of  Balaam,  the  prophet  of  Pethor 
"  by  the  River,"  forms  a  quaint  and  interesting 
passage  in  the  Book  of  Numbers,  beginning  in  the 
twenty-second  chapter.  It  follows  shortly  after 
the  resumption  of  the  narrative  of  the  journey  out 
of  the  wilderness,  which  is  here  made  up  in  part 
by  a  fusion  of  the  first  accounts  with  the  still  old- 
er material  of  the  Wars  of  Jehovah,  and  which 
contains  one  or  two  misplaced  repetitions  of  the 
ancient  traditions,  notably  that  of  the  Waters  of 
Meribah.  The  Israelites  had  two  entirely  differ- 
ent traditions  of  Balaam.  The  one  employed  in 
this  episode  represented  him  as  a  seer  of  high 
renown,  through  whom  the  oracles  of  the  Almighty 
were  uttered,  though  he  belonged  to  a  foreign  and 
heathen  people,  and  there  is  an  allusion  to  him  in 
the  same  character  by  the  prophet  Micah  (chapter 
vi.  5),  Avhicli  was  evidently  based  upon  the  story 
in  Numbers  xxii.-xxiv. ;  but  chapter  xxxi.  of 
Numbers  speaks  of  Balaam's  counsel  as  having 
caused  the  children  of  Israel  to  trespass,  and  as 


EPISODES  AND  FRAGMENTS.     JOSHUA  253 

having  brought  the  plague  upon  them,  and  he  is 
there  said  to  have  been  slain  with  the  kings  of 
Midian. 

The  two  stories  were  certainly  of  different  origin, 
and  the  kilHng  of  the  heathen  sorcerer  is  stated 
again  in  Joshua  xiii.  The  grotesque  touch  about 
the  angel  and  the  ass,  which  mars  the  otherwise 
dignified  and  poetical  story  of  the  appearance  of 
Balaam  on  the  banks  of  the  Arnon,  is  an  interpo- 
lation, and  was  probably  a  perversion  of  something 
in  the  later  and  unfavorable  tradition,  for  that  gave 
rise  to  all  manner  of  ludicrous  representations  of 
the  Mesopotamian  seer.  The  interest  and  signifi- 
cance of  the  effort  of  the  King  of  Moab  to  get  the 
greatest  prophet  of  the  time  to  curse  Israel  lies  in 
the  picture  it  affords  of  the  prevalent  conception 
of  the  powers  and  functions  of  the  seer,  and  in  the 
specimens  that  are  preserved  in  the  story  of  the 
vaticination  current  at  the  time  it  was  written.  It 
is  needless  to  add  that  the  predictions  regarding 
the  future  of  Israel,  like  those  in  the  Benediction 
of  Jacob  and  the  Blessiug  of  Moses,  were  of  Isra- 
elite origin,  and  were  made  after  the  establishment 
of  the  kingdom.  The  narrative  in  which  they  are 
incased  is  a  patchwork  from  the  Jehovist  and  Elo- 
hist  documents  and  the  Book  of  tlie  "Wars  of  Je- 
hovah. 

The  ancient  narrative  is  again  interrupted  with 


054  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

an  account  of  a  second  enumeration  of  the  tribal 
forces,  no  more  authentic  than  the  first  and  hav- 
ing a  similar  purpose,  and  repetitions  from  the 
"  laws  "  continue  to  be  scattered  along  in  an  in- 
coherent fashion.  Moses  is  represented  as  direct- 
ing the  attacks  upon  the  Midianites  and  the 
Amorites  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan,  and  assigning 
the  acquisitions  there  to  the  Reubenites  and  Gad- 
ites  and  the  Machirite  branch  of  Manasseh,  though 
that  region  was  in  reality  long  occupied  by  all 
Israel,  and  the  conquest  of  territory  to  the  west  of 
the  Jordan  was  made  much  later.  He  is  also  de- 
scribed as  giving  full  instructions  regarding  the 
allotment  of  possessions  in  the  "  promised  land," 
laying  special  stress  npon  provision  for  the  Le- 
vites  and  for  "  cities  of  refuge,"  all  of  which  be- 
longed to  the  ideal  scheme  of  the  restoration  after 
the  captivity ;  and  it  affords  internal  evidence  of 
the  late  production  of  this  part  of  the  book.  It 
comes  in  fact  from  a  portion  of  the  Mosaic  legend, 
which  was  not  developed  until  about  the  time  of 
Ezekiel. 

In  the  final  redaction  of  the  series  known  as  the 
Pentateuch  the  Book  of  Numbers  was  made  to 
end  with  a  statement  that  these  were  the  com- 
mandments and  judgments  delivered  by  the  hand 
of  Moses  in  the  plains  of  Moab,  thus  furnishing  a 
connecting  link  with  the  introductory  passages  of 


EPISODES  AXD  FRAQMEXTS.    JOSHUA  265 

Deuteronomy,  Avliile  a  chapter  was  added  to  the 
latter  book  winding  up  the  career  of  Moses  on 
Mount  Nebo.  In  all  the  long  period  and  the 
varied  experience  of  Israel  since  those  dajs  of 
dim  antiquity  there  had  not  arisen  a  prophet 
"  like  unto  Moses,  whom  the  Lord  knew  face  to 
face,"  for  it  had  taken  all  that  interval  of  tribal 
and  national  life  and  growth  to  develop  the  system 
which  Avas  attributed  to  the  first  great  leader  and 
law-giver,  but  of  wdiich  he  was  really  the  product. 
AlthouGjh  the  Book  of  Joshua  was  not  included 
in  the  Torah,  but  was  made  the  first  in  the  col- 
lection of  the  Nebiim,  it  has  a  close  historical 
connection  with  the  Book  of  Numbers,  and  is  al- 
most as  curiously  composite  as  that  production, 
though  less  fragmentary  and  incoherent  in  con- 
struction. It  is  generally  associated  by  recent 
critics  with  the  books  that  precede  it  in  the  present 
arrangement,  and  the  six  have  been  designated 
as  the  Hexateuch.  Joshua  contains  parts  of  the 
primitive  record  of  the  Hebrew  people,  made  up 
from  the  earliest  documents  in  the  time  of  Heze- 
kiah,  and  grounded  upon  the  old  legends  of  the 
Wars  of  Jehovah ;  but  these  were  transmuted  in 
the  several  processes  of  adapting  the  record  to 
the  development  of  the  Jewish  law.  Out  of  these 
ancient  tales  came  such  incidents  as  those  con- 
nected with  the  crossing  of  the  Jordan,  the  taking 


356  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

of  Jericho,  the  destruction  of  "  Ai,"  and  the  vic- 
tories at  Gibeon.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  old- 
est of  the  material  used  by  the  compiler  of  the 
book  was  later  than  the  rebuilding  of  Jericho  in 
the  time  of  Ahab.  A  curious  instance  of  the  use 
made  of  the  antique  material  is  seen  in  the  de- 
scription of  the  battle  of  Gibeon,  where  a  hyper- 
bolical apostrophe  to  the  sun  and  moon  from  the 
Book  of  Jasher  is  followed  by  a  matter-of-fact 
statement  that  those  luminaries  really  stood  still 
at  the  command  of  Joshua. 

This  entire  book  is  quite  unhistorical  in  its 
character.  It  crowds  together  the  exploits  of  a 
prolonged  and  irregular  process  of  conquest  and 
subjugation,  and  ascribes  them  to  a  commander 
who  was  altogether  legendary,  if  not  quite  myth- 
ical. One  instance  may  be  cited  to  illustrate 
this  characteristic.  Joshua  is  described  as  slay- 
ing Jabin,  the  King  of  Hazor,  and  burning  his 
capital,  but  the  Book  of  Judges,  a  much  earlier 
production  and  ostensibly  covering  a  wider  range 
of  events,  has  a  very  different  story  of  the  struggle 
of  Israel  with  this  King  of  Hazor,  against  whom 
they  prevailed  more  and  more  until  they  had  de- 
stroyed him.  There  was  in  fact  no  such  system- 
atic and  rapid  conquest  of  the  country,  no  such 
extermmation  and  slaughter,  no  such  butcheries  as 
are  here  attributed  to  divine  command.     The  nar- 


EPISODES  AND    FRAGMENTS.     JOSHUA  257 

rative  is  artificial  and  mostly  of  a  date  long  sub- 
sequent to  the  establishment  of  the  kingdoms  of 
Israel  and  Judah. 

The  allotment  of  lands  and  the  distribution  of 
tribes  accord  only  vaguely  with  a  situation  at  any 
time  actually  existing,  and  seem  to  have  been 
made  by  the  writer  with  reference  to  the  ideal  sys- 
tem contemplated  for  a  possible  future.  Among 
the  latest  and  most  studied  interpolations  are  those 
wdiich  support  the  Levitical  scheme,  and  these 
could  not  have  been  written  prior  to  the  captivity, 
as  this  scheme  did  not  then  exist.  Nothing  Avas 
known  before  that  time  of  the  "cities  of  refuge" 
and  the  cities  and  tow^ns  assigned  to  the  Levites, 
some  of  which  were  not  in  the  possession  of  the 
Israelites  until  long  after  the  supposed  conquests 
of  Joshua.  There  are  other  evidences  that  por- 
tions of  the  book  were  modified  to  sustain  the  later 
prescriptions  of  the  law,  some  of  which,  indeed,  it 
repeats,  and  Joshua  is  represented  in  his  old  age 
as  recalling  to  the  people  what  their  God  had  done 
for  them  and  against  their  enemies,  and  as  impress- 
ing upon  them  the  duty  of  obeying  his  commands 
and  cleaving  to  his  worship.  The  aged  leader  is 
even  said  to  have  written  his  injunctions  in  the 
"  book  of  the  law  of  God,"  and  to  have  set  up  a 
*'  great  stone  "  at  the  sanctuary  of  Shechem  as  the 
witness  of  a  new^  covenant  with  the  people. 
17 


258  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

Surely  the  first  six  books  of  the  Old  Testament 
are  more  iutelligible  and  far  more  interesting  and 
instructive,  considered  as  the  product  of  the  life 
and  experience  during  several  centuries  of  the 
most  remarkable  people  of  antiquity,  the  only 
people  of  antiquity  that  still  survives,  though  dis- 
persed among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  From  the 
beginning  to  the  end  of  the  process  of  producing 
these  books  was  a  period  of  at  least  four  cen- 
turies, and  the  beginning  was  not  less  than  five 
hundred  years  after  the  escape  out  of  Egypt  and 
the  wandering  in  search  of  the  ancestral  home  of 
the  race. 

As  has  been  stated  in  the  historic  outline 
which  forms  the  first  part  of  this  volume,  during 
most  of  the  long  period  from  the  deliverance  to 
the  establishment  of  the  two  kingdoms  the  people 
had  no  written  records.  Their  only  memorials 
were  the  rude  altar,  the  stone  pillar  set  up  in  the 
ground,  and  the  heap  of  loose  stones,  or  gilgal, 
which  helped  to  keep  in  the  mind  of  one  genera- 
tion after  another  some  notable  event  or  expe- 
rience. But  a  rich  store  of  oral  tradition  had 
grown  up ;  the  popular  memory  was  filled  with 
tales  of  past  trials  and  triumphs,  reaching  back 
to  the  fables  of  Babylon  and  Nineveh  and  the  mi- 
grations of  the  fathers  of  the  tribes  from  the 
"  great  river "  to  the  ''  river  of  Egypt,"  over  the 


EPISODES  AND  FRAGMENTS.     JOSHUA  259 

plains  of  Syria,  the  liills  of  Canaan,  and  the  weird 
valley  of  the  Dead-Sea  region,  and  passing  through 
the  bondage  in  Egypt,  the  escape  through  the 
deserts  and  the  recovery  of  the  land  claimed 
as  their  own  by  ancient  inheritance  and  divine 
promise. 

A  long  line  of  teachers  had  developed  concep- 
tions of  deity  and  of  duty  which  grew  with  ad- 
vancing intelligence  and  rising  moral  sense.  There 
is  nothing  in  human  literature  elsewhere  analogous 
to  this  imbedding  in  one  conglomerate  mass,  as 
by  the  fusing  and  blending  of  geologic  processes,  of 
the  results  of  the  experience  of  a  race  for  centu- 
ries of  its  early  life.  The  bulk  of  the  prescrip- 
tions and  prohibitions  of  the  ancient  Jewish  law 
Lave  no  application  to  modern  life,  and  are  only  of 
historic  interest.  So  far  as  a  moral  standard  can 
be  derived  from  the  general  mass,  it  is  not  a  high 
one.  The  idea  of  justice  at  its  best  did  not  attain 
a  broad  or  exalted  level,  and  of  the  gentler  vir- 
tues there  was  hardly  a  dim  notion.  The  God  of 
the  Torah  was  created  in  the  image  of  man,  not 
kindly,  benignant,  or  magnanimous,  but  harsh, 
jealous,  and  vengeful  —  addicted  to  fierce  out- 
breaks of  wrath,  but  placated  by  shows  of  repent- 
ance and  humility,  and  ready  to  reward  submissive 
service.  Regarded  as  an  embodiment  of  the  con- 
ception  of   divinity   which  prevailed  among   the 


260  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

Hebrews,  the  highest  conception  of  that  early  time, 
and  one  which  furnished  a  powerful  factor  in  the 
conceptions  of  the  purer  religion  which  sprang 
from  their  ancient  faith,  it  is  an  impressive  subject 
of  study. 


V 

JUDGES.    KUTH 

The  Book  of  Judges  contaiDS  a  more  continuous 
mass  of  the  original  material  of  ancient  Hebrew 
literature  than  any  other  book  in  the  entire  collec- 
tion. There  is  little  doubt  that  it  was  put  in  sub- 
stantially its  present  form  in  the  time  of  Hez- 
ekiah,  as  a  sequel  to  the  early  story  of  the  life  of 
Israel  formed  by  combining  the  two  parallel  ac- 
counts, as  already  described ;  but,  unlike  that 
story,  it  underwent  comparatively  little  retouching 
to  make  it  conform  to  ideas  wrought  out  in  the 
process  of  developing  the  Mosaic  law.  It  is  a 
book  of  legends  drawn  mainly  from  the  popular 
treasury  of  the  AVars  of  Jehovah,  and  the  primi- 
tive formation,  which  appears  in  broken  and 
mingled  strata  in  Genesis  and  comes  occasionally 
to  the  surface  in  other  parts  of  the  Hexateuch,  is 
here  almost  free  from  the  effects  of  fusion  and  the 
overlaying  of  later  material.  There  are  breaks 
and  crevices,  occasional  signs  of  the  blending  of 
contiguous  veins  of  tradition  and  slight  indications 
of  expansion,  but  on  the  whole  we  have  a  pristine 


262  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

product  of  tlie  first  literary  activity  of  the  Semitic 
genius. 

In  the  opening  chapters  there  are  evidences  of 
the  efforts  of  the  "  harmonizers "  to  bring  this 
series  of  episodes  of  the  days  of  the  "  judges  "  into 
accord  with  the  artificial  account  of  the  conquest 
in  the  Book  of  Joshua,  but  they  failed  to  obliterate 
the  glaring  inconsistencies  and  direct  contradic- 
tions, and  fortunately  the  process  of  sophistication 
was  not  carried  far.  It  left  unmarred  a  number  of 
vivid  pictures  of  the  rude  hfe  of  the  Hebrew  clans, 
striving  to  establish  themselves  and  to  maintain 
possession  of  the  land  which  they  had  invaded. 
These  show  that  the  inhabitants  had  neither  been 
slaughtered  nor  driven  out,  and  no  such  result 
was  ever  attained  by  the  petty  and  irregular  con- 
flicts that  were  kept  up  until  long  after  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  kingdom. 

These  scenes  present  our  earliest  view  of  the 
people  of  Israel  in  the  light  and  atmosphere  of 
reality.  As  we  contemplate  them  it  is  evident 
that  there  we  see  the  beginning  of  the  life  and 
character  that  are  to  develop  under  kings  and 
prophets,  law-givers  and  priests,  through  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  this  peculiar  people,  for  the  produc- 
tion of  Judaism — the  common  prologue  to  Chris- 
tianity and  Mohammedanism ;  and  that  those 
hirid  sketches  of  the  infant  world,  those  idyllic 


JUDGES.     RUTH  263 

glimpses  of  patriarchal  life,  and  the  sombre  rev- 
elations of  Jehovah  in  the  solitudes  of  Sinai 
have  been  projected  across  this  open  field  of  real- 
ity and  portrayed  upon  the  mist. 

But  there  is  the  color  and  the  throb  of  flesh  and 
blood,  the  crude  vigor  of  primitive  humanity  in 
Ehud,  the  left-handed  Benjaminite,  and  the  fat 
King  of  Moab ;  in  Sisera  and  the  daring  wife  of 
Heber,  the  Kenite,  with  Deborah  shouting  her  an- 
them of  triumph,  more  ancient  than  the  story  with 
which  it  is  connected ;  in  the  exploits  of  Gideon 
in  punishing  the  marauders  of  Midian  and  Amalek, 
and  in  the  overv/eening  and  bloody  ambition  of 
his  son,  Abimelech ;  in  the  deeds  of  the  bold  bri- 
gand of  Gilead,  summoned  from  his  stronghold  at 
Tob  to  become  the  champion  of  the  Lord  at  Miz- 
pah ;  in  the  prov/ess  of  Samson,  a  very  picture- 
book  giant  in  his  light-hearted  valor  and  his 
dismal  fate,  as  void  of  moral  purpose  as  the  hero 
of  a  fairy  tale,  Nazarite  though  he  was  ;  in  the  easy 
virtue  of  the  wandering  Levite  and  the  daring  of 
the  Danites  who  stole  the  oracle  of  Jehovah  in  the 
hill  country  of  Ephraim  and  violently  dispossessed 
the  quiet  and  secure  people  of  Laish  ;  in  the  ex- 
periences of  that  other  Levite  whose  concubine 
played  the  harlot  and  met  a  horrible  fate  at 
Gibeah,  where  the  prevailing  morals  were  not  dis- 
tinguishable from  those  of  Sodom  in  the  time  of 


264  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

Lot ;  and  in  the  fratricidal  war  that  grew  out  of 
this  outrage,  and  the  barbarous  amends  to  Benja- 
min for  the  loss  of  his  wives  and  children. 

Here  is  humanity  as  gross  and  genuine  as  in 
the  first  rude  annals  of  any  race,  and  as  devoid  of 
moral  sense  and  religious  spirit.  Those  people 
knew  nothing  of  even  the  germs  of  the  law  which 
centuiies  later  was  thrown  back  of  their  history ; 
and  all  those  forms,  modes,  and  shows  of  worship, 
built  up  in  after  time,  were  unheard  of  by  them. 
Their  notions  of  Jehovah  differed  little  from 
Moab's  notions  of  Chemosh,  and  Ammon's  notions 
of  Baal,  and  they  were  apt  to  mix  their  gods.  The 
oracles  set  up  by  Gideon  and  by  Micah  illustrate 
the  conception  of  those  days  in  matters  of  divinity  ; 
Jephthah's  vow  shows  that  human  sacrifice  lin- 
gered even  in  Israel,  and  no  legend  in  history  ex- 
hibits ranker  barbarism  than  the  accoimt  of  the 
war  of  the  other  tribes  upon  Benjamin. 

These  episodes  are  of  supreme  interest  for  the 
light  they  cast  upon  the  condition  of  the  tribes 
before  they  were  consolidated  into  a  kingdom, 
when  "  every  man  did  that  which  was  right  in 
his  own  eyes,"  and  irresponsible  leaders  arose  in 
time  of  trouble  to  rescue  the  j^eople  and  to  repel  their 
enemies.  The  record  is  mutilated  and  fragmenta- 
ry, but  the  picture  is  fairly  complete.  That  the 
origiual  legends  were  of  the  Northern  Kingdom  is 


JUDGES.     RUTH  265 

evident  from  the  little  attention  given  to  Judah, 
which  virtually  consituted  the  Southern  realm. 
The  scenes  are  almost  wholly  among  the  tribes  of 
the  North  and  in  that  section  of  Manasseh  east  of 
the  Jordan. 

In  the  Book  of  Judges  are  many  indications 
of  late  touches  in  the  process  of  redaction,  out  of 
harmony  with  the  context,  especially  in  the  first 
three  and  the  last  three  chapters.  The  song  put 
in  the  mouth  of  Deborah  and  Barak  is  indepen- 
dent of  the  prose  narrative  of  the  defeat  of  Jabin, 
and  an  older  composition.  It  is  doubtless  one  of 
the  oldest  of  the  poj)ular  chants  in  which  events 
were  commemorated  long  before  their  words  were 
written  down,  and  it  formed  part  of  the  material 
out  of  which  the  prose  narrative  was  made  ;  but 
there  are  sig-ns  of  alteration  in  the  text  as  finally 
preserved. 

The  miraculous  appears  in  this  as  in  most  an- 
cient collections  of  historical  tradition,  and  in  the 
same  crude  way ;  and,  as  in  all  the  Hebrew  annals, 
failures  and  calamities  are  attributed  to  the  dis- 
pleasure of  Jehovah  at  some  wrong-doing  of  the 
people,  and  successes  are  credited  to  his  direction, 
however  questionable  or  barbarous  the  means  by 
which  they  are  gained.  It  was  out  of  this  per- 
sistent recognition  of  the  authority  and  power  of 
the  national  deity,   especially  by   the  ^vriters    of 


266  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

these  anuals,  that  the  theocratic  system  was  finally 
developed  and  the  doctrine  of  an  overruling  prov- 
idence was  bequeathed  to  later  times. 

The  charming  idyl  of  Ruth  used  to  be  regarded 
as  a  pendant  to  the  Book  of  Judges,  and  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  in  the  first  collection 
of  the  Hebrew  scriptures  it  formed  a  part  of 
it;  but  it  is  entirely  different  in  style  and  tone 
and  of  much  later  composition  than  the  original 
material  of  that  book.  Its  date  cannot  be  deter- 
mined, as  there  is  no  sign  of  its  existence  before 
its  appearance  in  the  scriptural  collection,  long 
after  the  return  from  exile.  It  is  believed  by 
some  to  have  been  written  after  the  captivity,  but 
of  this  there  is  no  evidence,  and  while  it  is  later 
than  the  classical  period  of  Hezekiah,  it  is  supe- 
rior in  literary  quality  to  anything  that  has  come 
down  from  the  post-exilic  period. 

But  the  time  of  its  production  is  of  little  conse- 
quence. It  seems  to  have  no  special  moral  or  re- 
ligious purpose,  but  it  presents  a  beautiful  picture 
of  the  softer  and  gentler  side  of  life  and  manners 
*'  in  the  days  when  the  judges  judged,"  as  they 
were  imagined  in  later  days.  It  affords  a  pleasing 
contrast  with  the  brutal  and  bloody  scenes  of  the 
Book  of  Judges,  and  breathes  kindliness  even  for 
Moab,  the  traditional  enemy  of  Israel.  Its  pur- 
pose is  generally  assumed  to  be  to  account  for  the 


JUDGES.     RUTH  267 

origin  of  the  family  of  David,  but  that  comes  in 
only  casually  at  the  very  end,  and  in  a  way  to  sug- 
gest after  -  thought.  The  statement  as  to  Obed, 
that  "  he  is  the  father  of  Jesse,  the  father  of  David," 
may  be  a  later  addition  to  the  story,  as  the  bit  of 
genealogy  which  follows  surely  was,  being  taken 
from  the  Book  of  Chronicles.  In  the  serious  ac- 
count of  David  in  the  Book  of  Samuel,  unques- 
tionably an  earlier  production,  there  is  no  attempt 
to  trace  his  pedigree,  and  it  was  probably  unknown. 
The  Book  of  Ruth  is  as  far  as  possible  from  being 
historical,  and  it  needs  no  special  purpose  to  com- 
mend it  to  our  admiration.  It  is  an  antique  gem 
in  a  rude  setting. 


VI 

THE  BOOK  OF   SAMUEL 

What  have  long  been  called  the  two  Books  of 
Samuel  were  originally  one,  and  form  a  continuous, 
though  irregular,  narrative.  It  is  made  up  largely 
of  the  same  kind  of  material  that  appears  in  the 
Book  of  Judges,  but  received  much  greater  ad- 
ditions and  interpolations  at  the  hands  of  com- 
pilers and  copyists.  Like  that  and  the  Book  of 
Kings,  now  also  divided  into  two,  it  received  sub- 
stantially its  final  form  in  the  interval  between  the 
promulgation  of  the  law  in  its  Deuteronomic  ver- 
sion and  the  establishment  of  the  Levitical  system, 
probably  in  the  early  years  of  the  Babylonian 
exile.  The  patchwork  in  its  composition  is  almost 
as  evident,  though  not  so  incongruous,  as  that  of 
the  Book  of  Numbers,  which  was  compiled  later 
and  of  more  varied  material. 

The  original  legend  of  the  prophet  Samuel  was 
pieced  out  with  passages  of  later  origin,  so  that  he 
is  brought  to  the  close  of  his  career  two  or  three 
times,  and  appears  in  at  least  two  quite  different 
aspects.    The  story  of  his  life  as  a  priest  at  Shiloh 


THE  BOOK   OF  SAMUEL  269 

practically  ends  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighth 
chapter,  and  the  passage  that  follows  is  of  different 
material.  The  poetical  prayer  of  Hannah  is  a  late 
insertion,  and  in  the  prophet's  reply  to  the  de- 
mand for  a  king  there  is  an  evident  and  not  very 
friendly  reference  to  the  reign  of  Solomon.  Two 
different  accounts  of  bringing  Sanl  to  the  throne 
are  blended  without  effacing  their  inconsistencies, 
and  this  use  of  two  traditions  relating  to  the  same 
event  without  reconciling  them  with  each  other  is 
characteristic  of  the  greater  part  of  the  book. 
There  are  distinct  indications  of  the  hand  of  the 
Deuteronomic  compiler  in  chapter  xii.  The  whole 
narrative  to  chapter  xv.  is  made  up  of  anecdotes, 
after  the  manner  of  Judges,  but  less  homogene- 
ous in  character.  That  chapter  itself  is  an  inter- 
polation from  a  different  source,  and  what  follows 
to  chapter  ix.  of  the  Second  Book  is  devoted 
mainly  to  developing  the  career  of  David. 

In  this  there  is  the  same  mingling  of  discordant 
material  as  in  what  relates  to  Samuel  and  Saul, 
but  Saul  is  soon  given  up  as  a  failure  by  the  Lord 
and  Samuel  disappears  from  the  scene,  while 
David  makes  his  way  to  the  throne  in  the  most 
picturesque  fashion.  His  first  introduction  to 
Saul  is  described  in  two  widely  different  ways, 
and  in  several  places  in  the  story  of  his  advent- 
ures there  are  signs  of  mixing  two  or  more  tra- 


270  THE  JEWrSH  SCRIPTURES 

ditions  regarding  tlie  same  event.  This  is  quite 
evident  in  the  famous  tale  of  the  giant  of  Gath. 
The  couplet  several  times  repeated,  referring  to 
David's  prowess  as  a  "warrior,  was  doubtless  from 
poetical  material  relating  to  his  exploits,  the  rest 
of  Avliich  was  transmuted  into  prose.  The  bar- 
barism of  the  time  is  hardly  more  veiled  in  this 
part  of  Samuel  than  in  Judges.  The  material 
draAvn  from  the  old  Book  of  the  Wars  of  Je- 
hovah continues  to  be  visible  down  to  David's 
establishment  of  his  power  over  all  Israel  at  Jeru- 
salem, and  the  lament  over  the  death  of  Saul  and 
Jonathan  is  distinctly  credited  to  the  Book  of 
Jasher.  The  section  of  the  Book  of  Samuel 
relating  to  the  rise  of  David  and  the  planting  of 
his  dynasty  ends  with  chapter  viii.  of  what  is 
called  the  Second  Book. 

Chapters  ix.  to  xx.  of  Second  Samuel  form  a 
distinct  work  from  that  which  precedes,  and  the 
first  two  chapters  of  Kings,  relating  to  the  close  of 
David's  career,  seem  to  belong  to  it.  It  is  a  con- 
tinuous account  of  the  doings  of  David  and  of  the 
intrigues  of  his  court,  and  it  is  traced  either  by  an 
unfriendly  hand  or  by  that  of  a  friend  of  peculiar 
candor.  The  most  scandalous  episode,  that  of  the 
king  and  the  wife  of  Uriah  the  Hittite,  is  consid- 
ered by  acute  critics  as  an  interpolation  and  as 
intended  to  throw  discredit  upon  the  mother  of 


THE  BOOK  OF  SAMUEL  271 

Solomon.  But  for  the  most  part  tlie  account 
seems  to  have  the  color  and  flavor  of  the  time,  and 
the  original  material  must  have  taken  form  soon 
after  the  events.  It  evidently  underwent  little 
modification  at  the  hands  of  the  compilers,  and 
was  rather  intractable  to  the  process  of  priestly 
revision.  The  author  of  the  Chronicles  found 
himself  constrained  to  cast  it  aside  altogether  as 
inconsistent  v>dth  his  purpose. 

The  last  four  chapters  of  Samuel  form  a  late 
interpolation,  made  up  of  miscellaneous  fragments 
TN^hich  some  scribe  was  reluctant  to  throw  away. 
It  includes  the  story  of  Eizpah  and  her  sons, 
another  version  of  the  Goliath  legend,  a  variant  of 
the  eighteenth  psalm,  which  has  no  relation  to  the 
context,  the  alleged  last  w^ords  of  David,  a  collec- 
tion of  odds  and  ends  of  tradition  relating  to  him 
and  his  warriors,  and  an  account  of  famine  and 
pestilence  due  to  the  heinous  offence  of  taking  a 
census.  Thus  far  we  find  little  elevation  of  moral 
or  religious  sentiment  above  the  level  of  the  days 
when  "  every  man  did  that  which  was  right  in  his 
own  eyes,"  and  the  King  of  Israel  is  far  from  the 
saintly  pedestal  to  which  he  was  elevated  by  later 
wTiters. 


vn 

THE  BOOK  OF  KINGS 

TfiE  Book  of  Kings,  arbitrarily  divided  iu  the 
modern  Bible  into  two  books,  is  perhaps  the  best 
example  in  the  Old  Testament  of  the  ancient 
Hebrew  manner  of  dealing  with  literary  material, 
especiallj^  that  of  a  legendary  and  historical  char- 
acter. It  was  never  digested  and  wrought  into 
a  new  and  s^-mmetrical  work,  but  mechanically 
pieced  together,  and  successive  revisers  made  ad- 
ditions, interpolations,  and  variations  to  suit  the 
purpose  uppermost  in  the  mind  of  each.  The 
final  product  was  a  patchwork  with  many  incon- 
gruities which  there  is  no  means  of  fully  explaining 
or  clearing  up,  because  the  material  that  was  not 
used  in  any  of  the  processes  was  at  last  cast  away 
and  lost  beyond  recovery.  On  the  fall  of  Samaria 
the  writers  of  the  Northern  Kingdom  took  refuge 
at  Jerusalem  with  such  of  the  store  of  legends  and 
records  belonging  to  them  as  they  were  able  to 
save,  and  when  the  Judean  capital  was  taken  and 
the  priests  and  scribes  of  the  temple  Avere  carried 
away  to  Babylon,   they   gathered   up   the   accu- 


THE  BOOK  OF  KINGS  278 

mulated  treasures  as  best  they  could,  and  it  was 
in  the  early  years  of  the  exile  that  the  annals  of 
the  two  kingdoms  were  put  in  something  like  the 
shape  in  which  they  have  been  preserved. 

The  first  two  chapters  of  the  Book  of  Kings 
form  an  integral  part  of  the  story  of  David  and 
connect  with  the  twentieth  chapter  of  Second  Sam- 
uel, and  the  work  of  the  chief  compiler  of  this  book 
itself  begins  with  the  reign  of  Solomon.  How  com- 
plete a  compilation  may  have  existed  before  the 
captivity,  and  how  far  it  may  have  been  the  work  of 
the  same  hand  that  finished  the  record,  it  is  hard  to 
say,  but  everything  points  to  the  supposition  that 
someone  belonging  to  the  company  of  Jeremiah 
became  the  custodian  of  the  disordered  material 
and  completed  the  work.  It  is  almost  certain  that 
this  writer  also  arranged,  we  might  almost  say 
disarranged,  the  declamations  of  the  prophet  and 
wrote  the  connecting  narrative,  which  may  account 
for  the  otherwise  remarkable  fact  that  Jeremiah  is 
not  mentioned  in  Kings  in  connection  with  the 
events  of  the  reign  of  Josiah  and  his  successors, 
in  which  he  played  such  a  prominent  part. 

It  is  certain  that  the  dominant  idea  of  the 
principal  compiler  of  the  Book  of  Kings,  as  we  have 
it,  was  to  give  a  color  to  the  history  of  the  two  king- 
doms in  keeping  with  the  Deuteronomic  version 
of  the  law,  and  that  most  of  his  interpolations  and 
18 


274  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

changes  were  made  with  that  view.  It  is  equally 
certain  that  where  the  distinction  between  priests 
and  Levites  is  made  and  the  separate  functions  of 
the  latter  are  emphasized,  it  is  due  to  modifica- 
tions made  in  later  revisions,  for  this  distinction 
was  not  established  until  after  the  exile,  w^hile 
the  Deuteronomic  code  was  equally  unknown  to 
the  authors  of  the  older  parts  of  this  book.  In  the 
last  form  into  which  the  variegated  material  Avas 
wi'ought  there  are  cases  of  repetition,  of  the  use 
of  two  different  traditions  of  the  same  event  with- 
out effacing  inconsistencies,  of  breaks  and  trans- 
positions, and  even  of  the  introduction  into  the 
text  of  what  were  originally  marginal  notes  and 
glosses.  There  were  evidently  many  variations 
produced  in  copying,  and  the  Greek  version  of  the 
Septuagint  differed  in  many  details  from  the 
Hebrew  text  which  became  the  basis  of  modern 
translations. 

As  to  what  may  be  called  the  original  material, 
there  was  evidently  much  from  the  same  mass  of 
legends  and  traditions  that  formed  the  bulli  of  the 
Book  of  Judges  and  furnished  the  groundwork  of 
the  Book  of  Samuel,  mostly  from  the  Northern 
Kingdom  ;  there  were  dry  records  kept  by  official 
scribes  at  Jerusalem,  and  there  were  apparently 
separate  collections  of  the  "  acts "  or  doings  of 
certain  kings  and  prophets.     The  point  of  view  of 


THE  BOOK  OF  KlXas  275 

the  compiler  was  that  of  Judah,  and  he  could 
never  forgive  the  revolt  of  Jeroboam,  or  look  upon 
anything  but  the  unfavorable  side  of  the  conduct 
of  his  successors,  save  in  the  rare  instances  in 
which  they  were  in  sympathy  with  the  King  of 
Judali.  The  tendency  to  idolatry  and  alien  wor- 
ship in  the  Northern  realm  is  exaggerated,  and  the 
conduct  of  its  rulers  is  painted  in  dark  colors. 
The  predilection  of  the  compiler  for  the  policy  of 
centralizing  worship  at  the  temple  in  Jerusalem 
and  discountenancing  the  rural  sanctuaries,  which 
was  a  late  development,  distorted  his  estimate  even 
of  the  earlier  kings  of  Judah,  to  whom  that  jDoiicy 
was  quite  unknown. 

The  record,  considered  as  historical,  was  further 
vitiated  by  the  adoption  of  an  artificial  system  of 
chronology,  assuming  twelve  periods  of  forty  years 
from  the  exodus  to  the  building  of  the  temple,  and 
a  like  interval  from  that  time  to  the  return  from 
captivity,  and  by  an  attempt  to  force  events  into 
compliance  with  the  system.  This  chronology  is 
erroneous  in  its  general  outline  and  full  of  inaccu- 
racies of  detail. 

The  story  of  Solomon's  reign  is  almost  apart  in 
style  and  material  from  the  rest  of  the  book,  but  it 
gives  evidence  of  more  than  one  source.  The  ac- 
count of  the  dedication  of  the  temple  is  almost 
wholly  a  late  composition,  and  is  saturated  with 


2:6  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

the  Deuteronomic  spirit,  which  is  especially  evi- 
dent in  the  prayer  put  in  the  month  of  the  king. 
In  style  and  ideas  it  is  centuries  later  than  the 
building  of  the  temple  and  wholly  out  of  keeping 
with  the  character  of  Solomon,  as  presented  in  the 
older  material.  The  stories  of  the  king's  wonder- 
ful wisdom  belong  to  the  Solomon  legend,  which 
developed  long  after  the  events  of  his  reign,  but  it 
is  older  than  the  representations  of  his  character 
which  would  make  him  the  founder  of  the  exclusive 
national  worship  at  Jerusalem.  The  oldest  mate- 
rial relating  to  him  produces  the  most  vivid  impres- 
sion, as  in  his  dealings  with  Hiram,  his  alliance 
with  Egypt,  his  oriental  luxury  and  easy  tolerance 
of  foreign  worshij). 

It  is  not  necessary,  and  it  would  be  tiresome,  to 
point  out  in  detail  the  peculiarities  of  the  series 
of  narratives  of  the  kings  of  Judah  and  Israel, 
which  indicate  variety  of  source  and  inartistic  use 
of  material.  The  most  striking  and  significant 
parts  of  the  whole  book  are  those  in  \^'hich  Elijah 
and  Elisha  figure,  and  in  none  are  its  chief  charac- 
teristics more  conspicuous.  These  descriptions 
were  undoubtedly  of  Northern  origin,  and  they 
relate  almost  wholly  to  events  in  the  Samaritan 
kingdom',  but  they  were  expanded  by  at  least  one 
of  the  compilers  or  revisers  with  material  drawn 
from  the  later  legends  of  the  prophets.     The  ex- 


THE  BOOK  OF  KIXGS  277 

istence  of  more  than  one  source  is  evident  upon 
the  face  of  the  broken  narratives,  which  are  pieced 
irregularly  into  the  fabric.  The  similarity  of  the 
names  and  the  parallelism  of  incidents  suggest 
the  probability  that  there  was  but  one  actual  jDer- 
sonage  behind  the  two  imposing  figures  of  Elijah 
and  Elisha.  The  account  nearest  to  the  events 
and  having  the  greatest  appearance  of  actuality  is 
that  which  connected  Elisha  with  incidents  of  the 
reign  of  Ahab  and  the  accession  of  Jehu,  and  it 
looks  as  though  the  more  weird  and  imposing 
personality  of  his  forerunner  was  evolved  from 
two  separate  lines  of  traditions  blended  together, 
and  from  the  strong  impression  produced  by  the 
startling  interventions  of  a  prophet  of  Jehovah 
against  the  influence  of  Baal. 

The  parallelisms  are  noticeable  in  the  stories  of 
the  widow's  unfailing  cruise  of  oil,  and  the  bring- 
ing of  her  dead  son  back  to  life  at  Zarephath,  and 
the  pot  of  oil  from  which  many  vessels  were  filled, 
and  the  resuscitation  of  the  child  of  the  Shuna- 
mite,  and  in  the  references  to  the  anointing  of 
Jehu  and  Hazael,  which  in  the  story  is  assigned 
to  Elijah  to  be  done,  and  is  actually  done  by 
Elisha,  after  an  interval  occupied  with  various 
events  covering  a  long  period.  The  account  of 
Ahab's  acquisition  of  Naboth's  field  or  vineyard 
is  also  associated  with  both  prophets  in  a  mannei' 


278  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

indicating  two  different  sources,  and  raising  the 
surmise  that  tliere  was  really  but  one  prophet. 

As  the  form  in  w^hich  we  have  these  episodes  was 
produced  two  or  three  centuries  after  the  time  to 
which  they  relate,  out  of  materials  of  different 
origin  and  different  ages,  and  as  the  miraculous 
incidents  mingled  with  historical  fact  necessarily 
stamp  them  as  legendary,  it  is  a  reasonable  sur- 
mise that  the  mysterious  prophet  of  Horeb  and 
Carmel,  whose  appearances  produced  such  a  start- 
ling effect  and  left  such  a  lasting  impression,  was 
elevated  into  an  ideal  personality,  and  was  por- 
trayed by  the  prosaic  writers  who  made  up  the 
record  under  two  different  aspects,  the  one  in- 
dividuality disappearing  in  a  Avhirlwind  and  leav- 
ing his  mantle  to  the  other,  who  was  to  emerge 
into  the  light  of  history  and  take  part  in  the 
notable  change  of  dynasty  at  Samaria.  Among 
the  minor  indications  that  may  be  noted  is  the 
fact  that  while  Elijah  was  called  the  Tishbite, 
there  was  no  place  from  which  that  designation 
could  be  derived,  and  that  the  exclamation,  "  the 
chariots  of  Israel  and  the  horsemen  thereof,"  put 
in  the  mouth  of  Elisha  when  Elijah  disappeared, 
is  also  put  in  the  mouth  of  King  Joasli  when 
Elisha  was  about  to  die. 

The  fragmentary  character  of  the  material  of 
the  Book  of  Kings,  the  unskilful  way  in  which  it 


THE  BOOK  OF  KINGS  279 

was  used  by  a  succession  of  compilers  and  re- 
visers, and  the  disappearance  of  the  rest  of  the 
mass  from  which  it  was  drawn,  leave  a  wide  field 
for  conjecture  and  erudition,  but  the  present  pur- 
pose is  only  to  state  what  is  known  and  to  point 
out  such  internal  indications  as  are  interesting 
and  significant  of  the  general  character  of  the 
book.  It  is,  of  course,  not  historical  in  the  strict 
sense,  but  it  presents  pictures  of  the  two  king- 
doms, with  strong  lights  and  shades,  and  with 
distorted  reflections  thrown  back  from  a  time 
when  both  had  passed  away,  and  it  affords  the 
means  of  studying  the  life  and  character  of  the 
Hebrew  people  when  Judaism  was  going  through 
an  important  stage  of  its  development. 


yiii 

THE  BOOK  OF  CHEONICLES 

A  CENTURY  and  a  half  or  more  after  the  restora- 
tion of  Jerusalem  and  the  temple,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Levitical  system  of  law  and  of 
worship,  toward  the  end  of  the  peaceful  domina- 
tion of  the  Persian  power  in  the  fourth  century 
B.C.,  a  scribe  attached  to  the  temple  service  under- 
took to  rewrite  the  history  of  Israel  and  present 
it  from  the  point  of  view  of  his  class,  "the  priests 
and  the  Levites."  He  had  under  his  hand  the 
Book  of  Kings,  from  which  he  made  liberal  ex- 
tracts when  it  suited  his  purpose,  and  he  seems 
also  to  have  had  a  variety  of  other  material,  more 
or  less  historical,  including  a  confused  mass  of 
tribal  genealogies.  He  practically  ignored  the 
Northern  Kingdom,  and  confined  himself  to  the 
line  of  David,  and  he  gave  very  little  attention  to 
the  part  played  by  the  prophets  in  the  experience 
of  the  nation. 

There  is  only  a  passing  reference  to  Elijah,  in 
which  he  is  said  to  have  sent  a  warning  to  King 
Jehoram  of  Judah,  in  writing,  at  a  time  when,  ac- 


THE  BOOK  OF  CHRONICLES  281 

cordiug  to  the  account  in  Kings,  the  prophet  must 
already  have  disappeared  from  the  face  of  the 
earth.  There  is  a  scant  alhision  to  Isaiah  in 
the  reign  of  Hezekiah,  and  a  mere  reference  to 
Jeremiah,  as  lamenting  the  death  of  Josiah,  and 
as  speaking  "  from  the  mouth  of  the  Lord " 
words  that  were  fulfilled  by  the  desolation  of  the 
land  after  the  conquest  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  The 
priests  and  Levites,  on  the  other  hand,  are  made 
to  figure  prominently,  and  the  chief  purpose  of 
the  writer  was  to  attribute  the  establishment  of  the 
whole  Levitical  system  of  worship  to  David  and 
Solomon,  although  it  had  no  existence  before  the 
captivity.  He  carries  back  to  the  first  temple  at 
every  opportunity  the  liturgical  and  musical  ser- 
vice of  the  second,  and  represents  the  priests  and 
Levites  as  having  the  functions  then  which  they 
exercised  in  the  writer's  own  time. 

Chronicles,  like  the  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings, 
is  properly  only  one  book,  the  division  hav- 
ing been  arbitrarily  made  long  after  it  was  first 
included  in  the  scriptures  of  the  Hebrews.  The 
first  chapters  are  taken  up  with  disconnected 
genealogies,  starting  with  Adam,  interspersed  with 
scraps  of  historical  tradition.  The  names  are 
largely  those  of  places,  and  of  tribes,  clans,  and 
families,  rather  than  of  persons,  and  where  numbers 
are  given  they  are  generally  manifestly  exaggerated. 


282  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

Statistics  were  in  fact  uDknown  iu  ancient  oriental 
history.  Beckoning  in  numbers  was  not  carried 
far,  and  anything  beyond  a  very  moderate  com- 
l)utation  was  boldly  stated  in  large  round  numbers, 
having  really  no  more  definite  meaning  than  the 
phrase  "  like  the  sand  which  is  upon  the  seashore." 
Even  in  the  genealogical  portion  of  the  book  the 
purpose  is  not  overlooked  of  giving  an  ancient 
origin  to  the  Levites  and  to  their  peculiar  place 
and  function  in  the  post-exilic  time. 

The  chief  exploit  of  the  author  of  the  Chron- 
icles is  taking  the  life  and  color  out  of  the  his- 
tory of  David  and  Solomon,  and  completely  trans- 
forming the  character  of  those  two  interesting 
potentates.  As  he  was  only  concerned  with  the 
Judean  dynasty  he  makes  but  slight  reference  to 
Saul;  and  instead  of  the  outlaw  of  Adullam  and 
the  robust  brigand  of  Ziklag,  with  his  picturesque 
adventures,  we  have  a  chosen  and  obedient  servant 
of  Jehovah  to  whom  victories  came  as  a  matter  of 
course,  and  to  whose  support  the  people  flock  at 
every  opportunity.  We  are  permitted  to  know 
nothing  of  the  crafty  and  bloody  deeds  of  Joab, 
who  is  merely  an  exemplary  oflicer  of  the  military. 
When  David  becomes  king  we  lose  sight  of  the 
heroic  warrior  of  the  old  accounts,  and  are  edified 
with  a  monarch  devoting  his  time  to  organizing 
the  service  of  the  sanctuary,  in  the  form  in  which 


THE  BOOK  OF  CHROmCLES  283 

it  was  described  in  the  Levitical  narrative,  and 
preparing  for  a  permanent  temple,  to  be  built  by 
liis  successor.  Tliere  is  nothing  of  those  sinful 
doings  that  gave  David  and  his  family  a  human  in- 
terest ;  no  falling  a  victim  to  the  charms  of  Bath- 
sheba,  no  scandals  among  the  royal  princes,  no 
revolt  of  Absalom,  no  picture  of  the  poor  old  king 
hounded  by  the  handsome  reprobate,  or  of  the  in- 
trigues of  court  and  harem  over  the  succession. 
David  finally  dies  in  the  most  peaceful  manner, 
full  of  days  and  honors,  and  passes  his  authority 
quietly  over  to  Solomon  with  pious  injunctions. 

There  is  nothing  of  the  beautiful  Abishag  or  the 
plotting  Adonijah.  The  only  iniquity  of  the  king 
appears  to  have  been  that  terrible  offence  of  cen- 
sus-taking, which  must  needs  account  for  a  period 
of  famine  and  pestilence.  But  in  the  meantime  he 
has  busied  himseK  with  priests  and  Levites,  and 
with  choirs  and  instruments  of  music,  and  he  is 
described  as  consecrating  the  ark  with  psalmody 
that  originated  after  the  exile,  as  the  psalms  of 
praise  from  which  that  in  1  Chronicles  xvii.  is 
made  up  unquestionably  did.  A  few  of  the  old 
incidents,  especially  of  wars,  are  repeated  in  a  cold 
and  colorless  way,  except  where  they  are  copied 
from  Samuel,  while  much  space  is  given  to  an  ac- 
count of  establishing  the  service  of  the  priests  and 
Levites,  which  is  anachronistic  as  v>^ell  as  fictitious. 


2S4  THE  JEWISH  SCRiriURES 

aud  to  descriptions  of  propositions  for  building  tlie 
temple,  wiiich  clearly  contradict  those  in  the  Book 
of  Kings. 

The  Solomon  of  this  author  is  as  exemplary  and 
edifying  as  his  revered  father,  and  as  strikingly  in 
contrast  with  himself  as  he  was  depicted  a  few 
centuries  nearer  to  his  own  day.  He  receives  the 
throne  as  of  divine  and  paternal  right,  without 
question  from  any  side,  and  with  it  plans  and 
materials  for  the  house  of  God,  which  he  proceeds 
to  construct,  with  the  kindly  aid  of  "  Huram " 
of  Tyre,  who,  for  a  Phoenician,  was  strangely  pos- 
sessed with  a  devout  regard  for  the  God  of  Israel. 
The  account  of  the  dedication  is  largely  copied 
from  the  Book  of  Kings,  but  there  is  some  Levit- 
ical  expansion  of  the  ceremonies.  We  have  the 
stories  of  the  wisdom  and  power  and  riches  of  Sol- 
omon, but  nothing  of  the  luxurious  and  seductive 
harem,  or  of  the  falling  away  to  false  gods.  The 
David  and  Solomon  of  the  Chronicles  are  beings 
of  quite  a  different  mould  from  the  David  and 
Solomon  of  the  old  legends  embodied  in  Samuel 
and  Kings,  though  the  latter  book  vmderwent  much 
pious  editing.  They  are  the  idealized  founders, 
not  of  the  kingdom,  which  in  the  days  of  the  Levite 
scribe  had  passed  away  beyond  hope,  but  of  the 
temple  and  its  worship.  To  make  them  the 
founders  of  Judaism  as  it  then  existed  seems  to 


THE  BOOK  OF  CHROXICLES  5i85 

have  been  the  chief  object  of  this  literary  product 
of  a  decadent  age. 

After  the  division  into  two  kingdoms  the  writer 
makes  merely  incidental  references  to  that  of  the 
North,  and  only  when  the  rulers  of  the  two  come 
in  contact,  either  as  allies  or  enemies,  and  these 
references  are  not  only  slight  in  extent  but  slight- 
ing in  tone.  He  sometimes  appropriates  passages 
from  the  Book  of  Kings,  and  at  other  times  varies 
materially  from  its  narratives  and  makes  additions 
to  them.  The  latter  consist  largely  of  interjec- 
tions of  the  Levitical  system  into  a  record  of  events 
that  preceded  its  existence,  as  in  Abijah's  defiance 
of  Jeroboam,  the  restoration  of  the  line  of  David 
in  the  person  of  the  boy  Joash  by  the  action  of 
the  priests  and  Levites,  and  the  renovations  of  the 
temple  under  Jehoshaphat,  Joash,  aiid  Hezekiah. 
There  is  an  inconsistency  with  the  earlier  record 
in  representing  Asa  as  haviug  suppressed  the 
"  high  places "  and  centralized  worship  in  the 
temple,  a  reform  which  was  not  seriously  at- 
tempted before  the  time  of  Josiah.  But  the  most 
glaring  inconsistency  is  to  be  found  in  the  state- 
ments as  to  the  defeat  and  captivity  of  the  sinful 
Manasseh,  and  his  repentance  and  amendment. 
This  is  in  effect  a  contradiction  of  the  previous 
account  and  has  no  support  in  historical  evidence. 
The   freest  developments  of  the  narrative,  from 


286  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

the  Levitical  point  of  view  of  the  second  temple, 
are  to  be  found  in  the  treatment  of  the  reigns  of 
Jehoshaphat,  Uzziah,  Hezekiah,  and  Josiah,  the 
kings  whose  conduct  was  most  in  accord  with  the 
religious  tendency  directed  by  the  prophets,  and 
the  evident  purpose  was  to  claim  a  liberal  share  of 
the  credit  for  the  priests,  whose  influence  was 
actually  rather  feeble  in  those  earlier  times,  and 
for  the  Levites,  who  had  no  influence  at  all  and 
did  not  exist  as  an  organized  body.  The  important 
occurrences  which  followed  the  death  of  Josiah 
and  ended  in  Babylonian  exile  are  scantily  referred 
to  as  of  no  consequence  for  the  main  purpose  of 
the  writer.  The  Book  of  Chronicles  has  little 
historical  value,  so  far  as  the  details  of  events  are 
concerned,  and  is  chiefly  of  interest  as  illustrating 
the  view  of  the  past  which  was  held  in  the  purlieus 
of  the  temple  in  the  fourth  centurj^  B.C. 


IX 
EZKA,  NEHEMIAH 

The  books  of  Ezra  and  Neliemiah  form  a  se- 
quel to  that  of  Clironicles,  covering  the  events 
of  the  return  from  captivity,  the  restoration  of  the 
temple  and  its  worship,  and  the  rebuilding  of  the 
walls  of  Jerusalem.  They  were  first  known  as  the 
first  and  second  books  of  Esdras,  or  Ezra,  and 
were  compiled  from  several  documents  by  the 
author  of  the  Chronicles,  with  connecting  interpo- 
lations of  his  own.  Nehemiah  left  a  personal 
memoir  of  his  administration  as  the  representative 
of  Persian  authority,  and  his  historicrJ  character 
is  clear  and  distinct.  Ezra's  activity  was  earlier 
in  its  connection  with  events,  and  later  in  being 
recorded,  and  as  a  historical  figure  he  is  vague  and 
uncertain.  The  probability  seems  to  be  that  he 
died  prior  to  Nehemiah's  mission  to  Jerusalem, 
and  that  in  the  final  account  the  dates  were  forced 
to  bring  them  together. 

The  memoir  left  by  Neliemiah,  v/hich  is  un- 
doubtedly authentic  and  underwent  little  change 
except  from  the  errors  of  copyists,  comprises  the 


288  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPT  CUES 

first  seven  chapters  of  the  book  which  now  bears 
his  name,  chapter  xi.,  which  connects  directly  with 
chapter  vii.,  verses  27  to  45  of  chapter  xii.,  and 
chapter  xiii.,  beginning  with  verse  4.  While  Nehe- 
miah  was  only  a  representative  of  secular  author- 
ity, he  had  been  zealous  in  establishing  observ- 
ance of  the  law  and  maintaining  the  religious 
separatism  of  the  Jews.  With  this  view  he  was 
especially  strenuous  for  a  strict  regard  for  the 
Sabbath  and  for  enforcing  the  Deuteronomic  pro- 
hibition of  mixed  marriages.  His  prominence  in 
matters  of  worship  and  religious  observance  ap- 
pears to  have  excited  the  emulation,  not  to  say 
the  jealousy,  of  the  priests  and  Levites  of  the 
temple,  and  sometime  after  his  death  and  the  ap- 
pearance of  his  memoir  a  similar  production  was 
brought  to  light  relating  to  Ezra,  magnifying  his 
share  in  the  restoration,  and  pui'porting  to  be  a 
personal  memoir. 

This  supposititious  memoir  constitutes  the  last 
four  chapters  of  the  Book  of  Ezra,  beginning  with 
the  seventh,  and  chapters  viii.  to  x.,  inclusive,  of 
the  Book  of  Nehemiah.  At  the  time  the  com- 
pilation of  the  two  books  was  made  there  w^ere  two 
other  documents  relating  to  the  period  of  the  resto- 
ration Avhich  were  turned  to  account.  The  more 
authentic  of  these  appears  in  the  passage  of  the 
Book  of  Ezra  beginning  with  chapter  ii.  and  extend- 


EZRA,   NEHEMIAH  389 

iug  to  chapter  iv.,  verse  5,  and  includes  also  the 
latter  part  of  chapter  vi.  from  verse  13.  The  list  of 
returning  exiles  in  chapter  ii.  is  repeated  in  chapter 
vii.  of  Nehemiah,  the  author  of  the  latter  saying 
that  he  found  it  in  the  book  of  the  genealogy  of 
them  that  came  up  at  the  first.  The  other  docu- 
ment, including  cliapter  i.  of  Ezra  and  the  passage 
from  iv.  6  to  vi.  12,  and  purporting  to  contain  de- 
crees of  Cyrus,  Artaxerxes,  and  Darius,  and  corre- 
spondence with  malcontents  in  Judea,  has  no  his- 
torical basis. 

The  compiler  of  what  now  constitutes  the  two 
books  made  up  the  first  six  chapters  from  the 
documents  last  named,  and  then  introduced  the 
portion  of  the  memoir  attributed  to  Ezra  the 
scribe,  which  related  to  his  bringing  up  a  con- 
tingent of  the  exiles  from  Babylon,  and  his  aston- 
ishment and  horror  at  the  state  of  things  whicli  he 
found  at  Jerusalem,  especially  the  intermarriages 
with  "  the  peoples  of  the  land."  Then  follows 
Nehemiah's  account  of  his  commission  from  Ar- 
taxerxes, to  rebuild  the  city  of  his  father's  sepul- 
chres and  the  tribulations  which  attended  its  ac- 
complishment, ending  with  the  repetition  of  the 
list  of  those  "w^hich  came  up  at  the  first."  Then 
the  compiler  reverts  to  the  Esdras  memoir  and 
brings  in  the  account  of  the  promulgation  of  the 
law  and  the  renewing  of  the  ancient  covenant. 
19 


200  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

Special  stress  was  laid  in  this  upon  tlie  prohibi- 
tion of  mixed  marriages,  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  the  contributions  for  the  temple  ser- 
vice. 

Chapter  xi.  of  Nehemiah,  which  was  drawn 
from  the  memoir  of  the  Tirshatha,  relates  to  the 
distribution  of  the  people,  and  especially  of  the 
Levites,  but  the  compiler  followed  it  with  a  pas- 
sage of  his  own  relating  to  the  Levites  with  a  rep- 
etition of  names  from  the  previous  lists,  interrupted 
with  Nehemiah's  account  of  the  dedication  of  the 
wall.  The  book  ends  with  his  description  of  what 
he  found  on  returning  from  an  official  visit  to  the 
"  King  of  Babylon,"  meaning  the  King  of  Persia,  to 
whom  Babylon  was  then  subject,  and  his  stern  deal- 
ing with  those  who  desecrated  the  sanctuary,  vio- 
lated the  Sabbath,  and  married  "strange  woman." 
One  noticeable  thing  in  the  writing  of  Nehemiah 
is,  that  he  did  not  use  the  name  of  Jahwe  or  Jeho- 
vah at  all,  and  instead  of  the  familiar  formula  of 
divine  commands,  we  find  the  phrase  "  My  God  put 
it  into  my  heart."  The  figure  of  Nehemiah  ap- 
pears with  a  vivid  reality,  while  that  of  Ezra  is 
somewhat  indistinct,  and  this  is  doubtless  due  to 
the  manner  in  which  the  record  was  made,  and  to 
the  character  of  the  sources  from  which  it  was 
drawn,  a  century  or  so  after  the  events.  A  curi- 
ous  evidence    of   the   close    connection    of   these 


EZRA,   NEHEMFAH  291 

two  books  with  that  of  Chronicles  is  seen  in 
the  breaking  off  of  the  closing  statement  of  the 
latter  in  the  middle  of  a  sentence,  and  the  re- 
sumption and  completion  of  the  statement  at  the 
beginning  of  Ezra. 


X 

THE  EAELIER  PEOPHETS 

The  writings  of  the  prophets,  or  their  utter- 
ances as  they  were  preserved,  whether  put  in 
writing  by  themselves  or  by  others,  will  be  read 
with  better  understanding,  if  taken  up  in  their 
chronological  order  and  with  reference  to  the 
events  with  which  they  were  associated.  It  should 
be  constantly  borne  in  mind  that  the  collection 
was  made  some  time  after  the  return  from  exile, 
and  was  not  at  first  held  sacred  from  the  process 
of  editing.  There  were  selections  and  extracts 
rather  than  a  systematic  compilation,  and  there 
are  many  indications  of  suppression  and  even  of 
interpolation.  The  various  productions  became 
gi-eatly  disordered  in  the  vicissitudes  of  the  na- 
tional life,  from  the  time  when  there  were  two 
kingdoms  until  the  time  when  there  remained  only 
the  vague  hope  of  one ;  and,  finally,  when  the  col- 
lection was  closed  to  revision,  the  utterances  of  the 
same  prophet  remained  in  disorder,  while  those  of 
unknown  authors  were  occasionally  mixed  with 
those  of  the  most  famous. 


THE  EARLIER  PROPHETS  293 

The  earliest  fragment  of  tlie  writings  of  the 
prophets  which  has  come  clown  to  us  is  the  pas- 
sage contained  in  chapters  xv.  and  xvi.  of  the 
Book  of  Isaiah,  designated  as  the  Burden  of 
Moab  and  as  the  word  of  God  spoken  "  in  time 
past."  It  is  simply  an  exultation  over  the  disasters 
of  Moab  in  one  of  the  conflicts  with  Israel.  Some 
have  assigned  it  to  the  time  of  the  defeat  of  Mesha 
by  the  allied  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah  (Joram 
and  Jehoshaphat),  but  the  better  opinion  is  that 
it  came  out  when  Jeroboam  II.  brought  Moab 
into  subjection  anew,  and  that  its  author  Avas  that 
Jonah  who,  unfortunately  for  the  dignity  of  his 
name,  became  the  hero  of  a  grotesque  tale  illus- 
trating the  discomfiture  of  the  prophet  who  set  his 
own  judgment  against  the  will  of  Jehovah. 

But  the  earliest  of  the  prophets  about  whose 
identity  there  is  no  doubt  and  vdiose  words  have 
come  down  to  us  substantially  as  they  were  uttered, 
is  Amos,  the  herdsman  of  Tekoa,  who  felt  himself 
called  upon  to  give  voice  to  the  terrible  warnings 
of  Jehovah.  He  was  of  the  very  southern  part  of 
Judah,  but  it  was  in  the  Northern  Kingdom  that 
these  warnings  were  then  chiefly  needed.  His 
first  utterances  were  said  to  have  been  made  two 
years  before  the  earthquake,  but  the  later  ones 
came  after  that  appalling  event  and  contain  allu- 
sions to  it. 


294  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

It  was  about  tlie  beginning  of  the  eighth  cen- 
tury B.C.  Jeroboam  II.  had  conquered  his  most 
troublesome  enemies,  and  his  kingdom  had  grown 
rich  and  his  court  hixurious  in  a  period  of  pros- 
perity. There  was  the  usual  result  of  a  marked 
difference  in  the  conditions  of  the  people,  the 
hardship  and  oppression  of  the  poor,  the  arro- 
gance and  corruption  of  the  favored  class.  There 
was  a  careless  lapsing  into  the  sensuous  worship 
of  the  alien  deities  and  a  neglect  of  the  national 
God,  or  a  mere  formal  regard  for  his  altars.  Among 
the  evils  of  the  time  was  an  extensive  slave  trade, 
from  which  the  hapless  in  Israel  suffered.  The 
rich  were  growing  richer,  and  the  poor  poorer,  and 
the  spirit  of  discontent  was  abroad.  Still  a  gen- 
eral gayety  and  confidence  prevailed  at  Samaria, 
though,  after  the  lull  of  a  long  peace,  there  were 
rumbling  portents  of  future  trouble,  as  the  vast 
shadovv^  of  the  Assyrian  power  loomed  over  the 
eastern  horizon.  The  prophet  felt  jDremonitions 
of  the  gathering  wrath  of  Jehovah,  and  from  the 
pasture  lands  of  Beersheba  he  ventured  boldly  to 
the  sanctuary  at  Bethel,  and  even  to  the  palace 
gate  at  Samaria,  to  fulminate  his  direful  fore- 
bodings. 

He  begins  by  distributing  his  denunciations  to 
the  surrounding  lands,  and  then  devotes  himself 
especially  to  the  iniquities  of  Israel,  souietimes 


THE  EARLIER  PROPHETS  2^)5 

in  a  tone  of  plaintive  lamentation,  but  more  often  in 
one  of  stern  reproach.  There  is  sharp  sarcasm  in 
his  references  to  the  fair  women  of  Samaria  as 
"  kine  of  Bashan,"  and  to  the  sacrificing  at  Bethel 
and  Gilgal,  while  those  who  make  offerings  con- 
tinue to  transgress.  There  are  stern  threats  of 
Jehovah's  punishment  and  tlie  desolation  of  the 
kingdom  wdiich  the  complaint  of  the  priest  of 
Bethel  to  the  king  at  Samaria  does  not  suffice  to 
silence.  There  are  to  be  earthquake  and  famine 
and  Avar  and  a  sifting  of  the  people  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth. 

The  idea  of  the  salvation  of  a  remnant  and  the 
building  up  of  a  new  nation  was  not  clearly  devel- 
oped so  early,  though  the  germ  may  have  been 
in  the  mind  of  this  forerunner  of  the  great  proph- 
ets. The  tone  and  style  of  the  close  of  the  Book 
of  Amos  is  so  different  from  the  rest,  that  it  is  be- 
lieved to  be  a  later  addition.  But  the  significance 
of  the  whole  book  is  unmistakable,  and  in  it  the 
voice  of  prophecy  took  a  note  which  was  nover 
lost.  There  is  an  exalted  conception  of  the  Deity, 
and  the  demand  is  for  justice  and  for  right,  and 
not  for  sacrifice  and  burnt  offerings.  The  ethical 
quality  of  the  book  is  lofty  and  in  marked  contrast 
VN'ith  that  of  the  legendary  and  historical  vrritings, 
and  even  with  most  of  the  writings  embodying  the 
Jewish  law.     Its  theology,  and  in  some   measure 


2m  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

its  style,  reminds  one  of  tlie  Book  of  Job,  which 
was  a  much  later  proclnction. 

The  writer  show^s  knowledge  of  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  race,  as  already  reduced  to  writing, 
in  his  references  to  the  escape  from  Egypt  and 
the  wandering  in  the  wilderness,  but  of  the  stat- 
utes and  commands  of  which  so  much  is  made  by 
later  writers  he  had  never  heard,  for  the  reason 
that  they  did  not  yet  exist,  save  in  the  scanty 
form  of  the  old  "  covenants."  But  the  doctrine 
was  fully  launched  that  the  fate  of  the  nation 
depended  upon  obedience  to  Jehovah's  will,  to 
be  shown  in  deeds  of  righteousness,  and  that  per- 
sistence in  idolatry  and  wickedness  would  bring 
wrath  and  destruction,  from  wliicli  the  faithful 
would  be  saved  to  create  a  new  nation  that  would 
be  blessed  with  Jehovah's  favor.  This  may  be 
regarded  as  the  doctrine  of  all  the  prophets,  on 
which  their  warnings,  their  threats,  their  promises, 
and  their  predictions  were  based. 

The  style  of  this  book  is  distinctly  rhythmical, 
though  it  lacks  the  regular  parallelism  of  Hebrew 
verse,  and  it  was  no  doubt  carefully  Avrought.  The 
historical  allusions  are  not  clear  enough  to  indi- 
cate the  period  over  which  the  warnings  extended, 
but  it  w\as  probably  several  years,  and  before  they 
ended  the  menace  of  the  Assyrian  power  was  clear 
to  the  prophet's  eye. 


THE  KAHLIER   riiOPUETS  397 

The  little  book  which  bears  the  name  of  Joel 
seems  to  be  a  sequel  to  that  of  Amos,  and  is  at  all 
events  nearly  contemporaneous  with  the  later  pas- 
sages of  that  production.  As  nothing  is  known 
of  its  date  or  its  authorship,  except  what  appears 
upon  its  face,  there  is  a  suspicion  that  the  names 
Joel  and  Pethuel  are  symbolical ;  but  as  most 
names  of  the  time  were  compounded  with  some 
designation  of  Deity,  it  cannot  be  regarded  as 
certain.  The  book  is  made  up  chiefly  of  a  graph- 
ic representation  of  drought  and  a  plague  of 
grasshoppers,  vividly  compared  to  a  devastating 
army,  in  which  some  critics  find  an  allegorical 
reference  to  an  apprehended  horde  of  Assyrian 
invaders,  which  is  to  be  Jehovah's  scourge  of  the 
people  for  their  sins.  This  is  followed  by  an  im- 
pressive summons  of  the  people  to  penitence  and 
amendment,  and  a  promise  of  reward  in  a  plente- 
ous prosperity.  There  is  a  vision  of  the  gathering 
of  the  nations  to  the  valley  of  Jehovah's  judgment, 
and  their  discomfiture  for  the  wrongs  done  to  the 
children  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem.  In  this  is  pre- 
figured that  great  day  of  the  triumph  of  Sion 
which  became  the  dream  of  Israel's  prophets  for 
generations. 

Another  fragment  generally  assigned  to  this 
period  is  the  single  chapter  bearing  the  name  of 
Obadiah   ("  servant    of    Jehovah  "j,  though   some 


298  THE  JEWISH  SCIilPTUHES 

find,  in  the  reference  to  the  desecration  of  Jeru- 
salem and  in  the  use  of  the  vague  term  translated 
*' captivity,"  an  indication  of  later  origin.  The 
reference  is  more  probably  to  one  of  the  incidents 
of  early  warfare,  as  this  leaflet  is  chiefly  a  tirade 
against  Edom  for  the  violence  done  to  his  brother 
Jacob.  It  was  evidently  written  while  the  North- 
ern Kingdom  still  existed,  and  the  promise  of  the 
unification  of  the  people  in  one  common  triumph 
over  their  enemies  is  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of 
the  prophets  of  the  time  of  Jeroboam  II. 

In  the  same  spirit  and  of  the  same  time  is  the 
fragment  included  by  the  collector  of  the  proph- 
ecies in  the  Book  of  Zechariah,  as  chapter  ix., 
which  has  no  relation  to  what  precedes  and  follows 
it.  This  is  directed  against  the  hostile  neighbors 
of  Israel  and  Judah  in  Syria,  Phoenicia,  and  Phi- 
listia,  and  repeats  the  promise  of  Sion's  future 
triimiph  under  a  just  king,  whose  dominion  shall 
extend  from  sea  to  sea  and  from  the  river  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth,  that  is,  from  the  Eed  Sea  to  the 
Mediterranean,  and  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  in- 
definite boundaries  of  the  north  and  east. 

Chapters  x.  and  xi.  of  Zechariah  constitute  an- 
otlier  independent  fragment,  full  of  vailed  refer- 
ences to  the  disturbed  condition  that  followed  the 
death  of  Jeroboam,  whose  son  was  assassinated 
by  Shallum,  while  the  latter  speedily  fell  a  victim 


THE  EARLIER  PROPHETS  299 

to  Menaliem,  "  three  shepherds  in  one  month." 
Ephraim  was  overrun  by  Assyria,  and  Menahem  was 
forced  to  pay  tribute,  which  he  exacted  from  the 
people.  There  had  also  been  troublous  times  at 
Jerusalem.  Joash  was  driven  from  the  throne  by 
conspiracy,  and  his  son  Amaziah  had  been  slain  by 
his  own  army.  There  was  ill  feeling  between  the 
two  kingdoms,  and  a  general  menace  to  both  in  the 
overshadowing  power  of  the  East.  The  unknown 
author  of  these  two  chapters,  if  they  are  from  a 
single  source,  seems  at  first  to  promise  rescue  for 
Ephraim  and  defence  for  Judah  against  Egypt 
and  Assyria,  which  were  contending  over  their 
heads,  and  finally  to  express  disgust  with  their 
kings,  or  "  Shepherds,"  and  to  break  their  broth- 
erhood asunder.  In  the  tumult  of  the  time  he 
seemed  to  see  nothing  but  disaster.  The  allusions 
are  obscure  and  not  very  significant,  and  all  that 
is  certain  is  the  period  to  which  this  fragment  be- 
longs. 

But  the  great  prophet  of  that  special  period  was 
Hosea,  about  whose  productions  there  is  no  doubt. 
The  introductory  words,  ascribing  his  utterances 
to  the  time  of  Uzziali,  Jotham,  Ahaz,  and  Hezekiah 
of  Judah,  and  Jeroboam  of  Israel,  must  have  been 
prefixed  by  the  collector,  to  indicfite  a  general  his- 
torical period,  for  nearly  the  same  words  are  used 
in  introducing  the  writings  of  Isaiah,  and  there  is 


iJOO  THE  JEWISH  SCKTPTURES 

no  exact  correspondence  between  the  reign  of  Jero- 
boam and  that  of  the  four  Judean  kings  named. 
Amos  was  a  Judean,  and  habitually  speaks  of  the 
Northern  Kingdom  as  Joseph,  or  more  broadly, 
Jacob ;  while  Hosea,  a  native,  or  at  least  a  resident, 
of  the  land,  always  calls  it  Ephraim  or  Israel,  and 
refers  to  the  Southern  Kingdom  as  Judah  or  Jacob. 
The  latter,  like  his  forerunner,  shows  familiarity 
with  the  traditions  of  the  race,  and  seems  to  have 
been  acquainted  with  the  written  record  now 
nearly  a  century  old.  He  does  not  refer  to  Moses 
by  name,  but  says  that  by  a  prophet  the  Lord 
brought  Israel  up  out  of  Egypt.  There  is  no 
reference  to  Abraham  or  Isaac,  and  the  use  of 
Adam  for  "  man  "  in  the  authorized  version  is  an 
error,  though  some  regard  the  original  as  signify- 
ing the  place  where  Israel  first  entered  Canaan, 
and  Avhere  the  sin  of  Achan  was  committed. 

The  prophecies  of  Amos  appear  like  oral  improv- 
isations afterward  carefully  written  out.  Those 
of  Hosea  were  evidently  never  spoken,  but  after 
the  opening  chapters  consist  of  a  series  of  sad  re- 
flections, reproaches,  and  appeals,  regarding  the 
sins  of  the  time,  put  in  the  mouth  of  Jehovah. 
In  the  first  three  chapters,  doubtless  early  produc- 
tions of  the  writer  in  the  time  of  luxury  and  de- 
caying morals  toward  the  end  of  Jeroboam's  reign, 
the  prophet's  personality  appears,   partly  in  the 


THE  EAJILTER  PROPHETS  301 

third  and  partly  in  the  first  person,  in  a  somewhat 
gross  sj^mbolical  representation  of  the  fatal  lust  of 
the  people  for  the  sensuous  worship  of  the  false 
gods  of  the  land.  The  figure  of  a  faithless  sexual 
relation  is  kept  up  in  later  references  to  the  same 
form  of  iniquity,  and  was  justified  by  the  gross 
practices  attending  the  worship  of  Baal-Phegor 
(Peor)  and  Astarte  (Ashteroth).  There  is  a  rather 
touching  plea  to  the  wayward  nation  as  a  faithless 
wife  and  mother,  who  shall  yet  be  reclaimed,  and 
an  aspiration,  never  to  be  realized,  for  the  final 
union  of  Ephraim  and  Judah  under  one  king. 

But  from  the  fourth  chapter  on  it  is  the  voice  of 
Jehovah  upbraiding  the  wickedness  and  perversity 
of  a  people  for  which  he  has  done  so  much, 
which  he  loves  so  tenderly,  and  which  he  is  so 
anxious  to  reclaim  to  himself.  There  are  bitter 
reproaches,  severe  condemnation,  and  warnings 
of  terrible  retribution,  but  ever  returns  the  note 
of  pity  and  sorrow,  and  the  eager  promise  of 
blessing  if  evil  ways  are  abandoned.  These  utter- 
ances no  doubt  extended  over  a  series  of  years, 
when  Samaria  was  tending,  through  the  tumult 
and  disaster  of  changing  dynasties  and  Assj^ian 
oppression,  to  her  inevitable  doom. 

There  are  many  obscure  references  to  passing 
events,  but  the  record  we  have  is  so  imperfect  that 
the  efi*orfc  to  make  them  clear  is  hopeless.     There 


303  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

are  hints  of  the  yacillating  policy  of  alliance  with 
Egypt  or  submission  to  Assyria,  which  is  con- 
demned as  the  sinful  alternative  for  a  submissive 
allegiance  to  Israel's  great  ruler  and  a  sole  re- 
liance upon  His  power.  There  are  predictions  of 
carrying  away  to  Egypt  and  to  Assyria.  The 
former  was  never  fulfilled,  and  the  fulfilment  of  the 
latter  w^as  deferred ;  but  one  or  both  of  them 
seemed  sure.  Am.on2f  the  chief  sinners  of  the  time 
were  the  priests  of  Bethel,  w^hich  the  prophet  for 
its  degradation  calls  Beth  Aw^en  (House  of  Iniquity, 
instead  of  House  of  God),  Gilgal,  and  Shechem,  and 
in  the  allusions  to  their  deeds  there  is  a  reminis- 
cence of  the  sons  of  Eli  at  Shiloh.  They  were 
priests  of  Jehovah,  but  had  degraded  the  sanctu- 
aries, at  wdiich  he  was  symbolized  in  the  golden 
calf  of  Egypt. 

The  pleadings  and  reproaches,  and  the  menace 
of  desolation  for  the  helpless  and  distracted  king- 
dom, upon  which  an  irresistible  enemy  is  closing, 
wdiile  it  is  torn  with  internal  dissension  and  is 
heedless  of  the  only  power  that  can  save  it,  are 
followed  by  the  cheerful  hope  that  Israel  will  yet 
return  unto  the  Lord  and  ''blossom  as  the  lily  and 
cast  forth  his  roots  as  Lebanon."  It  was  not  a 
prediction,  hardly  a  promise,  and  the  hope  was 
not  destined  to  fruition.  The  prophet  was  silent 
before  the  fate  of  his  beloved  Ephraim  Avas  sealed 


THE  EARLIER  RROPHETS  303 

or  perliiips  made  certain.  It  may  be  that  the 
hopelessness  of  the  situation  finally  disheartened 
him,  and  he  could  no  longer  endure  to  dwell  upon 
the  vision  of  Samaria  bearing  her  guilt.  The 
commonplace  epilogue  that  closes  the  book  was 
doubtless  added  by  the  collector  of  the  proph- 
ecies. 


XI 

THE   BOOK   OF    THE   PEOPHET    ISAIAH 

While  Samaria  was  trembling  on  the  verge  of 
destruction,  tlie  voice  of  prophecy  was  hushed  in 
the  Northern  Kingdom,  never  to  be  heard  again. 
But  it  soon  arose  at  Jerusalem  in  still  clearer  and 
stronger  accents.  In  fact,  it  reached  its  highest 
pitch  in  the  tones  of  Isaiah,  loftiest  of  the  prophets. 
Of  the  part  he  played  in  the  affairs  of  his  time 
and  of  the  general  character  of  his  writings  we 
have  already  spoken  in  the  former  part  of  this  vol- 
ume. It  onl}^  remains  to  place,  so  far  as  we  may, 
the  different  utterances  in  their  proper  order  and 
in  their  proper  relation  to  events,  that  they  may 
be  the  better  understood. 

The  book  bearing  the  name  of  Isaiah  is  a  com- 
pilation of  post-exilic  time.  The  material  had 
fallen  into  disorder,  the  utterances  of  the  great 
prophet  were  disarranged,  and  not  only  were  inter- 
polations and  additions  freely  made,  but  no  pas- 
sage was  regarded  as  sacred  from  such  editing  as 
the  turn  of  events  might  seem  to  require.  The 
note  prefixed  to  the  collection  indicates  too  extended 


THE  BOOK  OF  THE  PROPHET  ISAIAH  305 

a  period  of  time.  None  of  the  writings  pertain  to 
tiie  time  of  Uzziah,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  any  relate 
to  the  reign  of  Jotham.  The  vision  in  chapter  vi. 
appears  to  have  been  preKminarj  to  the  collection 
in  one  of  its  intermediate  stages,  and  was  probably 
introduced  by  the  editor.  It  is  not  in  the  manner 
of  Isaiah,  but  reminds  one  of  Ezekiei.  The  first 
five  chapters  are  doubtless  the  prophet's  earliest 
productions,  and  refer  to  the  evil  days  of  Ahaz  in 
much  the  same  tone  as  that  of  Amos  and  Hosea. 
The  first  four  verses  of  chapter  ii.  seem  to  be  in- 
terpolated and  are  substantially  the  same  as  the 
first  four  of  chapter  iv.  of  Micah,  and  both  are  an 
echo  of  Joel's  "  day  of  the  Lord."  The  burden  of 
these  chapters  is  an  upbraiding  of  the  nation  for 
its  sins  and  a  promise  of  future  glory  when  it  shall 
have  been  purged  of  its  iniquities.  The  song  of 
the  vineyard  in  chapter  v.  is  a  fine  example  of  the 
prophet's  early  manner. 

In  considering  the  writings  or  spoken  utterances 
of  the  historical  Isaiah,  who  figured  so  prominently 
in  the  reign  of  Hezekiah,  we  must  omit,  as  of  dif- 
ferent authorship  and  a  different  time,  chaj^ters 
xiii.  to  xvi.,  inclusive,  xxi.,  xxiv.  to  xxvii.,  xxxiv., 
XXXV,,  and  all  that  follows  chapter  xxxix.  The  re- 
maining chapters,  beginning  with  the  seventh,  are 
badly  disarranged.      Chapter  vii.   to   chapter   x., 

verse  4,  relates  to   the  j^eriod  before  the  death  of 
20 


306  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

Ahaz  (about  730  B.C.),  when  the  kings  of  Syria  and 
Israel  were  confederated  to  resist  Assyria  and  were 
making  hostile  demonstrations  against  Judah. 
While  this  passage  contains  menaces  of  destruc- 
tion to  the  enemies  of  Judah  by  inA^asion  from 
both  Assyria  and  Egypt,  it  also  threatens  chastise- 
ment to  the  Southern  Kingdom  for  its  evil-doing, 
and  promises  a  final  reunion  under  an  ideal  sov- 
ereiojn  on  the  throne  of  David.  There  is  a  break 
in  this  passage  at  ix.  8,  and  it  ends  abruptly  with 
X.  4,  as  if  incomplete.  The  firsb  eleven  verses  of 
chapter  xvii.  belong  with  this  passage,  seeming  to 
fall  in  best  at  the  end  of  chapter  vii. 

At  this  time  Syria  and  Israel  were  threatened 
with  the  invasion  of  their  territory  by  Shahnaneser 
of  Assyria,  and  there  are  allusions  to  this  danger 
in  these  chapters.  Chapter  xxviii.  is  of  the  same 
time,  and  the  "  overflowing  scourge  "  is  the  com- 
ing Assyrian  a,rmy.  Phoenicia  was  included  in 
the  menace  of  destruction,  and  to  this  "  the  bur- 
den of  Tyre,"  chapter  xxiii.,  may  be  refen-ed.  It 
was  in  the  midst  of  these  exciting  events  that  Sar- 
gon  succeeded  Shalmaneser,  and  it  was  while 
Hoshea  of  Israel  was  casting  about  for  help  from 
Egypt  that  the  prophet  fulminated  the  bitter  tirade 
in  chapter  xix.,  so  far  as  verse  17.  The  rest  of  the 
chapter  is  an  incongruous  interpolation  of  a  later 
time,  an  unrealized  vision  of  Judah's  future  great- 


THE  BOOK   OF  THE  PROPHET  ISAIAH  307 

ness.  The  crushing  defeat  of  the  Northern  King- 
dom by  Sargon  gave  rise  to  the  passage  beginning 
with  chapter  x.,  verse  5,  and  ending  with  chap- 
ter xii.  AVhile  it  seems  to  exult  in  the  disaster  of 
Ephraim,  and  to  include  Judah  in  the  same  chas- 
tisement, it  threatens  Assyria  with  retribution  and 
promises  a  glorious  restoration  in  the  time  to  come. 

Chapters  xxix.  to  xxxii.  8  appear  to  belong  to 
the  same  period,  when  there  was  dread  at  Jerusa- 
lem of  the  fate  that  had  overtaken  Samaria,  as  Sar- 
gon seemed  likely  to  pursue  his  conquest  to  the 
south,  though  some  assign  these  chapters  to  the 
time  when  Sennacherib  was  proceeding  against 
Jerusalem.  The  prophet  was  at  all  times  opposed 
to  military  preparations  for  resistance,  and  was 
especially  fierce  in  denouncing  those  v/ho  sought 
the  alliance  of  Egypt.  The  almost  invariable  sequel 
to  his  urging  submission  to  what  he  regarded  as 
the  purging  infliction  of  the  Lord,  was  a  promise 
of  future  greatness  when  the  nation  had  been 
cleansed  of  its  sins. 

Sargon  was  diverted  from  the  purpose  of  subju- 
gating Judah,  if  he  had  such  a  purpose  at  the 
time,  and  Avhile  he  was  detained  in  his  own  realm 
and  was  planning  a  campaign  against  Egypt,  there 
Avere  some  futile  efforts  to  form  a  league  against 
him  between  Judah,  Philistia,  and  neighboring 
countries,  and  a  constant  prompting  to  an  alliance 


308  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

with  Egypt.  To  this  interval  may  be  assigned  the 
curious  bit  of  narrative,  chapter  xx.,  and  the  hist 
eleven  verses  of  xxii. 

The  real  peril  of  Judah  came  with  the  invasion 
of  Sennacherib,  and  the  alarm  at  Jerusalem  was 
intense.  This  is  referred  to  in  the  passage  xvii. 
12-xviii.  Chapters  xxxii.  9-xxxiii.  belong  to  the 
same  exciting  time,  and  possibly  also  Avhat  precedes 
them  from  the  beginning  of  chapter  xxix.,  though 
this  seems  to  apply  better  to  the  threatened  com- 
ing of  Sargon  after  the  fall  of  Samaria.  Chapters 
xxxvi.  and  xxxvii.,  which  are  mainly  narrative,  were 
made  up  by  the  editor  of  the  collection  from  the 
mass  of  material  in  his  hands,  and  contain  some 
passages  of  Isaiah's  characteristic  declamation. 
Chapter  xxxviii.  seems  to  have  been  added  to  pre- 
serve Hezeki all's  song  of  gratitude,  and  xxxix.  is  a 
supplementary  narrative  in  which  the  prophet  is 
credited  Avith  a  prediction  of  the  Babylonian  con- 
quest. 

Of  the  omitted  chapters,  xiii.  to  xiv.  23,  xxi.  1- 
10,  xxxiv.,  and  xxxv.  belong  to  the  time  of  the 
siege  of  Babylon  by  Cyrus,  and  are  sometimes 
credited  to  the  author  of  the  series  of  chapters 
beginning  with  xL,  known  as  the  "second  Isaiah." 
The  editor's  introductory  line  to  xiii.  is  of  course 
erroneous.  Verses  24-27  of  chapter  xiv.  is  a  mis- 
placed fragment  of  the  time  of  Sennacherib's  in- 


THE  BOOK  OF   THE  PROPHET  ISAIAH  309 

wision,  and  the  rest  of  that  chapter  relates  to  the 
expedition  of  Sargon  against  those  \s\io  had  re- 
sisted him,  verse  28  being  another  error  of  the 
editor.  Chapters  xv.  and  xvi.  have  already  been 
accounted  for,  and  were  evidently  used  by  Isaiah 
to  reinforce  his  own  menace  against  Moab.  The 
first  ten  verses  of  chapter  xxi.  are  assigned  by 
some  critics  to  the  time  of  Sargon's  conquest  of 
Babylonia,  after  the  fall  of  Samaria,  which  re- 
moved a  protecting  barrier  from  Judah.  The 
other  verses  are  inserted  fragments  to  which  there 
is  no  clew. 

It  is  a  matter  of  dispute  whether  the  last  twenty- 
seven  chapters  of  Isaiah  belong  entirely  to  the 
period  of  the  conquest  of  Babylon  by  Cyrus 
and  the  deliverance  and  return  of  the  exiles  of 
Israel,  and  are  wholly  the  production  of  the  great 
anonymous  prophet  who  so  exultingly  announced 
the  good  tidings  to  Sion.  This  writer  may  have 
purposely  shrouded  himself  in  mystery  and  as- 
sumed the  name  and  manner  of  his  prototype,  with 
whose  works  he  was  evidently  familiar.  The  first 
nine  of  tliese  chapters  flow  on  continuously  from 
the  first  word  of  comfort  to  the  people  of  Jeru- 
salem  to  the  summons  to  go  forth  from  Babylon. 
Then  there  is  a  change,  and  from  xlix.  to  Hi.  13 
there  is  a  note  of  anxiety  and  exhortation,  and  no 
reference   to  Babylon  or   to  Cyrus.      The  writer 


310  THE  JEWISH  SCRTPTUHES 

seems  to  take  tlie  deliverance  as  an  accomplished 
fact,  and  to  be  looking  with  solicitude  to  the  future. 

There  is  no  doubt  about  a  single  authorship  and 
one  central  event  thus  far  ;  but  there  is  an  abrupt 
transition  and  a  change  of  st^de  at  lii.  14,  and 
from  that  point  to  the  end  of  the  book  there  ap- 
pear to  be  a  number  of  inserted  passages  and 
additions  which  are  differently  accounted  for. 
One  theory  is  that  lii.  13-liii.  belongs  to  a  period 
of  persecution,  and  depicts  an  ideal  representative 
of  martyrdom,  perhaps  in  the  reign  of  Manasseh, 
and  that  Ivi.  9-lvii.  is  of  a  similar  character  and 
by  the  same  hand ;  that  Ivi.  1-8,  Iviii.,  and  lix. 
are  isolated  exhortations  and  of  post-exilic  origin ; 
that  Ixiii.  7-lxiv.  was  a  lament  in  the  early  part 
of  the  exile  by  one  who  was  left  behind  in  Pales- 
tine ;  that  Ixv.  was  the  work  of  a  Jew  returned 
from  the  exile,  and  that  Ixvi.  consists  of  two  parts, 
verses  1-4,  and  5-24,  the  latter  being  written  after 
the  restoration  of  the  temple. 

These  are  matters  of  inference  from  data  that 
are  insufficient  to  support  positive  conclusions, 
but  these  closing  chapters  are  evidently  a  com- 
posite of  various  material,  and  the  whole  book 
was  pieced  together,  long  after  the  return  from 
exile,  by  a  compiler  Avho  did  not  regard  the  task 
as  one  requiring  particular  care  or  special  rever- 
ence for  the  documents  in  his  hands.     He  had  no 


THE  BOOK  OF  THE  PROPHET  ISAIAH  311 

idea  of  the  trouble  he  was  making  by  his  manner 
of  preserviiig  this  precious  material  for  future 
generations,  or  of  the  different  spirit  in  wjjich  it 
would  be  regarded  from  age  to  age,  until  daring- 
minds  should  try  at  last  to  trace  it  to  its  origin. 
Its  highest  significance  cannot  be  changed  by  any 
searching  of  its  sources. 


XII 

MICAH,   NAHUM,   ZEPHANIAH 

We  have  seven  short  chapters  of  prophetic 
writing  under  the  name  of  Micah  of  Morasheth, 
who  Avas  a  contemporary  of  Isaiah,  but  whether 
these  all  emanated  from  the  same  source  is  a  ques- 
tion upon  which  critics  differ.  There  seems  to  be 
no  doubt  about  the  first  five  chapters.  The  intro- 
ductory note  of  the  collector  is,  as  usual,  inexact, 
for  these  utterances  aj^pear  to  belong  mostly,  if 
not  wholly,  to  the  early  years  of  Hezekiah's  reign. 
Micah's  general  views  were  in  accord  with  those  of 
Isaiah,  but  he  was  a  provincial  on  the  Philistine 
border,  remote  from  the  activity  of  the  capital,  and 
shows  an  intense  sympathy  for  the  poor  and 
lowly,  who  are  victims  of  tlie  exaction  and  oppres- 
sion of  the  rich  and  powerful.  In  the  first  three 
chapters  he  includes  the  sins  of  Ephraim  and  Judah 
in  one  sweeping  denunciation  with  threats  of  divine 
retribution,  directed  mainly  agninst  the  rulers,  the 
corrupt  priests,  and  the  false  prophets.  The 
menace  of  destruction  was  no  doubt  inspired  by 
the  Assyrian  invasion,  but  Micah  seems  to  include 


MICAH,   NAHUM,   ZEPHANIAH  313 

in  it  only  the  capital  cities,  which  were  the  centres 
of  evil-doing. 

A  fragment  of  the  promise  of  restoration  appears 
in  A^erses  12,  13  of  chapter  ii.,  and  chapters  iv.  and 
V.  are  mainly  devoted  to  the  future  triumph  of  Sion 
over  her  enemies  under  a  new  ruler  of  the  house  of 
David.  This  was  a  dominant  idea  of  the  prophets 
of  that  age,  and  the  opening  verses  of  chapter  iv. 
were  part  of  a  common  stock  of  prediction  as  to  the 
"latter  days,"  wdien  all  nations  were  to  be  subject 
to  Jerusalem  under  the  sovereignty  of  Jehovah. 

The  last  two  chapters  of  the  book,  whether  by 
the  same  author  as  Avhat  precedes  or  not,  evidently 
relate  to  a  different  situation,  and  there  is  a  dis- 
tinct division  into  two  parts  after  verse  6  of  chap- 
ter vii.  These  two  parts  are  probably  by  different 
hands,  and  neither  that  of  Micah  the  Morashite. 
The  former  is  plausibly  assigned  to  the  evil  days 
of  king  Manasseh,  and  the  latter  appears  to  be- 
long to  the  period  of  the  exile,  when  the  w^alls  of 
Jerusalem  were  broken  down  and  the  faithful  were 
Availing  for  the  Lord  to  turn  again  and  have  com- 
passion on  his  people.  There  are  many  corrup- 
tions of  text  and  errors  of  transcription  in  the  Book 
of  Micah,  and  the  reference  to  Babylon  in  iv.  10 
is  regarded  by  some  as  a  marginal  gloss,  though 
it  might  have  been  meant  for  Assyria,  w^hich  then 
ruled  at  Babylon  as  well  as  at  Nineveh. 


314  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

There  is  no  doubt  tliat  "  the  book  of  the  vision 
of  Nahum  the  Elkoshite  "  belongs  to  the  time  of 
Manasseh,  but  it  is  not  concerned  with  the  sins  of 
Judah  or  the  iniquities  of  its  ruling  class.  The 
country  had  been  for  some  time  in  peaceful  subjec- 
tion to  Assyria,  but  that  power  began  to  show 
symptoms  of  dissolution  and  was  threatened  on 
the  north  and  east  by  hordes  of  Scythians  and  by 
the  aggressive  combination  of  the  Medes  and  Per- 
sians. Quick  to  scent  disaster  impending  over  its 
enemies  the  prophetic  genius  of  Israel  started  up 
with  a  fierce  tirade  against  the  great  capital  of 
the  Assyrian  empire.  Nineveh  was  doomed  and 
Nalium  was  prompt  to  attribute  its  coming  de- 
struction to  the  wrath  of  the  God  of  Israel,  whose 
people  had  suffered  so  much  at  the  hands  of  the 
arrogant  tyrant  of  "  the  bloody  city."  He  draws  a 
terrible  picture  of  Jehovah's  might  and  fury  and 
the  havoc  he  made  of  his  enemies  when  aroused, 
and  of  the  consequences  to  Nineveh  when  his  wrath 
should  be  poured  upon  her  devoted  walls  and 
towers. 

The  tone  of  the  prophecy  is  one  of  patriotic 
indignation  and  a  thirst  for  vengeance  upon  the 
enemies  of  Israel,  and  there  is  nothiug  in  it  of 
that  softer  spirit  which  looked  to  subjugation  as  a 
means  of  conversion,  and  to  a  final  reign  of  peace 
and    righteousness    at    Jerusalem.      Tliat    spirit 


MICAH,   NAIIILV,   ZEPHAXIAH  315 

slumbered  in  tlie  days  of  Manasseh.  Nineveh 
did  not  fall  for  some  time  after  Nalium's  fierce 
predictions,  and  lier  fate  was  finally  the  conse- 
quence of  the  irresistible  course  of  human  events. 

In  the  early  years  of  Josiah,  while  the  young 
king  was  still  under  the  direction  of  his  mother's 
regency,  about  630  B.C.,  the  spirit  of  prophecy 
awoke  again  with  all  the  old  intensity.  It  found 
voice  first  in  Zephaniah  (Sophonias  in  the  Greek 
version),  whose  three  ringing  chapters  have  come 
down  to  us.  The  accumulated  evils  of  a  long 
period  of  degeneracy,  especially  of  relapse  into 
idolatry  and  corrupt  practices,  so  excited  his  wrath 
that  he  set  out  with  a  prediction  of  universal  de- 
struction. The  vials  of  his  hot  indignation  were 
poured  out  upon  Judah  and  Canaan,  upon  all  their 
hostile  neighbors,  and  upon  their  remoter  enemies 
of  Egypt  and  Assyria.  Those  of  Egypt  are  spoken 
of  as  Ethiopians,  as  that  country  was  then  under 
an  Ethiopian  dynasty.  The  fact  that  Nineveh 
was  destined  to  become  a  "desolation,"  through 
the  conquest  of  the  Medes,  was  now  plainer  than 
ever,  and  gave  confidence  to  the  prophet's  menaces 
of  universal  disaster. 

But  the  characteristic  passage  of  Ze}3lianiah, 
presaging  the  Messianic  idea  of  a  later  time,  is 
that  which  pictures  the  survival  of  a  "  remnant," 
of  an  "afflicted  and  poor  people,"  out   of   which 


316  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

shall  be  built  up  a  new  nation.  The  germ  of  this 
faith  appeared  in  the  earliest  prophets  and  de- 
veloped through  the  whole  line.  In  Zephaniah, 
the  forerunner  of  Jeremiah,  it  appeared  free  from 
any  reference  to  a  new  scion  of  the  house  of  David. 
The  Lord  was  to  be  King  of  Israel  in  the  midst 
of  Jerusalem. 


XIII 

THE  BOOK  OF  THE  PEOPHET  JEKEMIAH 

To  read  the  Book  of  Jeremiali  with  understand- 
ing and  appreciation,  one  must  remember  that  it 
is  a  compilation  made  in  the  time  of  the  Babylo- 
nian exile,  and  subjected  to  much  revision  after- 
ward. The  prophet  himself  was  carried  away, 
after  the  capture  of  Jerusalem,  with  the  party  of 
insurgents  which  took  refuge  in  Egypt,  and  the 
collection  contains  some  of  his  utterances  after 
that  event.  As  Baruch,  who  is  mentioned  as  hav- 
ing written  out  his  warnings  in  the  time  of  Jelioia- 
kim,  was  his  companion,  it  is  a  natural  inference 
that  this  scribe  made  his  way  to  join  the  cap- 
tives in  Babylonia,  perhaps  after  the  prophet's 
death,  with  the  remnants  of  the  latter's  writings. 
Whether  these  productions  and  the  narratives 
connected  with  them  were  carried  in  part  from 
Jerusalem,  and  in  part  from  Egypt,  or  however 
they  may  have  been  got  together,  they  were  e\i- 
dently  in  great  disorder,  and  were  collated  and 
arranged  by  the  author  who  completed  the  Book 
of  Kings.     It  is  in  a  great  measure  a  supplement 


318  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

to  that  book,  covering  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years 
of  the  history  of  Juclah.  In  the  Book  of  Kings 
there  is  no  mention  of  Jeremiah,  who  played  so 
prominent  a  part  in  the  reign  of  Josiah  and  his  suc- 
cessors, and  the  events  of  that  important  period 
are  scantily  treated.  The  deficiency  is  supplied 
by  the  narratives  in  the  Book  of  Jeremiah. 

It  is  composed  in  considerable  part  of  those 
narratives,  introducing  passages  of  what  it  is  usual 
to  call  "  prophecy,"  or  explaining  their  occasion 
and  consequences.  Sometimes  the  narratives  ap- 
pear to  be  by  the  hand  of  the  prophet  himself 
speaking  in  the  first  person,  and  sometimes  the 
narration  is  in  the  third  person,  as  if  written  by 
another  using  material  left  by  him.  In  some 
cases  there  are  evident  paraphrases,  made  long 
after  the  events  referred  to,  and  even  direct  inter- 
polations, and  the  whole  is  interspersed  here  and 
there  with  ejaculations  of  prayer  or  imprecation 
and  expressions  of  the  prophet's  feelings  at  criti- 
cal times  in  his  career.  Whether  these  are  in  his 
own  language  or  made  by  an  editor  from  notes 
left  by  him,  can,  of  course,  not  be  determined,  but 
it  is  certain  that  the  whole  mass  of  material  was 
freely  dealt  with  at  the  time  the  compilation  was 
made,  and  afterward  in  the  processes  of  copying 
and  revising.  There  was  more  than  one  version  of 
the  book  long  extant,  and   the  one   used  by  the 


THE  BOOK  OF  THE  PROPHET  JEREMIAH       319 

Greek  translators  at  Alexandria  differed  materi- 
ally from  that  which  became  the  basis  of  modern 
translations  in  the  Old  Testament.  The  former 
contained  few  additions,  but  many  omissions  and 
variations,  and  one  or  two  important  differences  of 
arrangement.  The  book  as  we  have  it  is  a  com- 
posite production,  completed  sometime  after  the 
restoration  of  Jerusalem. 

The  introductory  note  is  that  of  an  editor,  and 
the  rest  of  the  first  chapter,  giving  an  account  of 
the  prophet's  "  inspiration,"  and  corresponding  to 
chapter  vi.  in  Isaiah,  if  the  work  of  the  prophet 
himself,  which  is  subject  to  doubt,  was  written 
after,  and  not  before,  the  utterances  to  which  it  is 
preliminary.  The  prophecies  began  in  the  thir- 
teenth year  of  Josiah,  who  was  still  a  youth,  when 
the  evil  state  of  things  inherited  from  Manasseh 
continued.  The  narrative  passage  in  regard  to 
the  prophet's  treatment  in  his  native  village,  at 
the  end  of  chapter  xi.,  seems  to  be  a  reminiscence. 

The  chapters  from  the  second  to  the  ninth,  in- 
clusive, contain  the  reproaches  and  warnings 
uttered  by  Jeremiah  in  the  early  years  of  his 
mission,  before  the  reforms  of  Josiah,  and  they 
have  the  spirit  and  tone  of  the  earlier  prophets, 
with  whose  works  he  was  familiar.  He  also  shows, 
here  and  elsewhere,  acquaintance  with  the  existing 
annals  of  his  country  and  with  the  Book  of  Job, 


33a  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

the  tliouglit  of  which  is  frequently  reflected  in  his 
writings.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  from  the 
promulgation  of  the  Deuteronomic  code,  and  the 
institution  of  reforms  by  Josiah,  to  the  death  of 
tliat  monarch,  a  period  of  thirteen  j^ears,  no  utter- 
ances of  the  prophet  appear  which  have  come 
down  to  us,  except  the  first  seventeen  verses  of 
chapter  xi.,  which  seem  to  be  a  sort  of  proclama- 
tion of  the  new  law,  and  xvii.  19-27,  which  is  a 
special  proclamation  of  the  rule  of  Sabbath  ob- 
servance. The  inference  is  almost  irresistible  that 
during  these  years  of  apparent  silence  Jeremiah 
was  active  in  the  vv^ork  of  formulating  and  apply- 
ing to  a  new  order  of  things  the  Deuteronomic 
legislation. 

After  the  invasion  of  the  Egyptian  monarch 
Necho,  the  death  of  Josiah,  the  dethronement  of 
Jehoahaz,  and  the  elevation  of  Jehoiakim,  the 
prophet  speedily  found  his  voice,  for  things  were 
relapsing  into  the  old  evil  way  of  the  detested 
Manasseh.  Chapters  xxii.  1-19,  xxvi.,  and  xiv. 
1-xv.  9  belong  to  the  beginning  of  Jehoiakim's 
reign,  the  passage  which  comes  earlier  in  the 
book  being  later  in  time.  In  all  the  earlier  warn- 
ings there  was  a  note  of  alarm  about  a  threatened 
invasion  from  the  Nortli,  due  to  disquieting  rumors 
of  the  movements  of  hordes  of  Scythians,  and  the 
prophet  drew  a  terrible  picture  of  the  consequence 


THE  BOOK  OF  THE  PROPHET  JEHEMIAH        321 

of  the  comiug  of  a  cruel  and  merciless  people  from 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  But  now  there  was 
a  more  tangible  ground  for  working  upon  the 
fears  of  the  people,  for  Nebuchadnezzar  was  about 
to  turn  from  Egyptian  conquest  to  give  attention 
to  his  rebellious  tributaries. 

A  misplaced  chapter,  now  numbered  xlvi.,  con- 
tains the  prophet's  exultation  in  Nebuchadnezzar's 
victory  over  Egypt,  which  is  followed  by  visions 
of  terror  for  all  the  people  around  Palestine,  ex- 
tending to  chapter  xlix.  33.  Chapter  xxv.,  which 
appears  to  relate  to  the  same  time,  is  an  interpola- 
tion made  during  the  captivity.  Evidence  of  this, 
if  needed,  is  found  in  the  reference  to  Jeremiah's 
prophecies  "  written  in  this  book,"  and  to  the  deso- 
lation of  the  cities  of  Judah,  "  as  it  is  this  day." 
But  the  whole  chapter  was  evidently  written  after 
the  event.  Chapters  xvi.-xvii.  18,  xviii.,  and  other 
passages  dwelling  on  the  sins  of  the  people  and 
their  impending  punishment,  may  belong  to  the 
time  of  the  first  rumors  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  com- 
ing. There  are  several  prophecies  virtually  dated 
as  of  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim.  Chapter  xxxvi. 
contains  the  account  of  the  reading  of  Jeremiah's 
warnings  to  the  king.  Chapter  xlv.,  relating  to 
the  same  incident,  is  one  of  the  interpolated  bits  of 
narrative. 

The   period  of   terror,  when   Nebuchadnezzar's 
21 


333  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

army  was  approaching  to  chastise  the  foolish  re- 
volt of  Jehoiakim,  is  vividly  portrayed  in  the  ut- 
terances of  the  prophet,  who  seemed  to  exult  in 
the  crushing  power  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  who 
was  characterized  as  the  servant  of  Jehovah  in 
punishing  his  recreant  people.  Before  he  reached 
Jerusalem  Jehoiakim  died  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  son  under  the  name  of  Jehoiachin,  but  though 
the  latter  promptly  made  his  submission  to  Ne- 
buchadnezzar, he  was  deposed  and  carried  away 
captive,  while  his  father's  brother  was  placed  on 
the  throne,  with  the  new  name  Zedekiah,  last  of 
the  Judean  kings.  This  first  transportation  oc- 
curred 598  B.C. 

Jeremiah's  contemptuous  opinion  of  the  imme- 
diate successors  of  Josiah  found  expression  in 
v/hat  is  chapter  xxii.  to  verse  19  of  the  book  bear- 
ing his  name,  and  his  special  aversion  to  Jehoia- 
chin, whom  he  calls  Coniah,  and  to  the  queen- 
mother,  Nehusta,  appears  in  the  passage  xxii. 
20-xxiii.  8.  Yerses  17-25  of  chapter  x.  and  chap- 
ter xiii.  belong  to  the  period  of  intense  terror 
between  the  time  of  Jehoiakim's  death  and  the 
arrival  of  the  Babylonian  army.  The  story  of 
the  Kechabites  who  took  refuge  at  Jerusalem  on 
the  approach  of  this  army,  and  whose  character 
and  habits  commended  them  so  warmly  to  Jere- 
miah, is  contained  in  chapter  xxxv.     The  new  king's 


THE  BOOK   OF  THE  PROPHET  JEREMIAH        323 

submissiou  was  complete,  and  Nebucliaclnezzar  re- 
turned to  Babylon,  but  the  prophet  was  not  pla- 
cated, as  appears  by  the  ill  omen  which  he  an- 
nounced in  chapter  xxiv. 

There  were  prophets  who  counselled  resistance 
to  the  Clialdean  power  and  throwing  off  the  yoke 
of  Babylon.  These  provoked  the  wrath  of  Jere- 
miah. There  is  a  general  denunciation  of  the  false 
prophets  in  chapter  xxiii.,  beginning  with  verse  9. 
Chapters  xxvii.  and  xxviii.  belong  to  the  first  part 
of  Zedekiah's  reign,  when  the  contentions  were 
going  on  about  the  policy  of  resistance  and  Jere- 
miah was  vehemently  opposing  the  king's  evil 
counsellors  and  threatening  the  return  of  Ne- 
buchadnezzar, which  this  policy  w^ould  surely 
bring  about.  At  about  the  same  time  he  sent  his 
message  to  those  already  in  exile,  chapter  xxix. 
virtually  advising  them  to  make  up  their  minds 
to  stay  where  they  were. 

The  prophet's  constant  denunciations  and  pre- 
dictions of  evil  at  this  time  got  him  into  trouble, 
and  some  of  his  speeches,  together  with  accounts 
of  the  effect,  are  found  in  chapters  xix.  and  xx. 
Efforts  to  silence  him,  when  his  predictions  seemed 
to  be  in  the  way  of  fulfilment  by  Nebuchadnezzar's 
return,  were  unavailing,  as  appears  in  chapter  xxi. 
At  chapter  xxxii.  begins  a  series  of  narratives  and 
prophecies   belonging  to  the  time  of  the  second 


321  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

siege  and  the  e-ve  of  the  final  carrying  away  to 
Babylon.  But  these  three  chapters  were  evidently 
put  in  form  during  the  captivit}^,  doubtless  from 
material,  in  part  at  least,  left  by  the  prophet.  The 
two  preceding  chapters,  xxx.  and  xxxi.,  are  also  of 
the  time  of  the  captivity,  and  not  in  Jeremiah's 
manner.  They  are  attributed  by  some  to  the 
anonymous  writer  known  as  the  second  Isaiah. 
Yerses  14-26  of  xxxiii.  are  an  interpolation  of  the 
latter  days  of  the  exile.  Chapters  xxxvii.-xliv. 
are  almost  wholly  narrative  matter  from  the  hand 
of  the  compiler  of  the  book,  giving  an  account  of 
the  closing  events  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah.  Prob- 
ably the  prophet  had  no  part  in  it,  but  the  ful- 
minations  attributed  to  him  in  Egypt  are  too 
characteristic  not  to  be  genuine. 

There  has  been  much  controversy  about  the 
prophecies  in  chapters  1.  and  li.,  but  they  are  plainly 
much  later  than  Jeremiah,  of  about  the  same  time 
as  chapters  xl.  to  xlviii.  of  Isaiah,  and  possibly 
by  the  same  author.  There  is  nothing  in  the 
manner  in  which  these  books  were  made  up  and 
published  to  the  world  to  justify  anyone  in  attach- 
ing the  least  weight  to  the  introductory  words, 
"  by  Jeremiah  the  prophet,"  or  the  final  w^ords, 
"  thus  far  are  the  Avords  of  Jeremiah."  The  one 
certain  thing  is  tluit  they  were  first  uttered  long 
after  his  death. 


THE  BOOK  OF  THE  FHOPHET  JEREMIAH        325 

The  last  chapter  of  Jeremiah  merely  repeats 
from  the  Book  of  Kings  the  prosaic  close  of  the  sad 
story  of  the  Jewish  struggle  for  an  independent 
national  life,  which  the  religious  spirit  of  the  race 
made  impossible.  Theocracy  and  the  state  were 
irreconcilable  ideas,  and  the  latter  had  to  die  that 
the  former  might  live. 


XIV 

HABAKKUK,    ANONYMOUS    CHAPTEES ; 
LAMENTATIONS 

Three  chapters  have  come  down  to  us  from  a 
prophet  who  was  a  contemporary  of  Jeremiah,  but 
they  seem  to  relate  wholly  to  the  critical  time 
when  the  first  invasion  of  Nebuchadnezzar  was 
impending,  after  his  victory  over  the  Egyptians  at 
Carchemish  in  the  days  of  Jehoiakim.  Two  of 
these  chapters  constitute  the  sort  of  declamation 
knoAvn  as  prophecy  and  the  other  is  designated  as 
a  prayer,  but  is  more  properly  a  hymn  or  psalm. 
Habakkuk  possessed  a  calmer  and  more  exalted 
spirit  than  Jeremiah,  and  that  may  be  why  so 
little  has  survived  from  his  pen.  This  prophecy, 
which  is  in  part  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue  with 
Jehovah,  and  reminds  one  of  Job,  has  a  higher 
literary  quality  than  the  fierce  tirades  of  his  more 
energetic  contemporary.  It  shows  also  more  sym- 
pathy for  his  own  country  and  dwells  upon  the 
punishment  its  enemies  are  to  receive.  The  hymn 
of  praise  and  confidence  in  Jehovah  of  chapter  iii. 
is  modelled  on  the  older  psalms  and  has  no  obvious 


HABAKKUK,   ANONYMOUS   VHAPTEHH  327 

relation  to  impending  or  current  events.  The 
notes  at  the  beginning  and  end  are  no  doubt  edi- 
torial additions,  as  the  organized  musical  service 
pertained  only  to  the  second  temple. 

Three  chapters  of  an  anonymous  prophet  ap- 
pear also  to  belong  to  the  time  following  the 
death  of  Josiah  and  prior  to  the  first  siege  of 
»Terasalem,  though  their  obscure  and  somewhat 
mystical  character  has  led  to  a  good  deal  of  con- 
troversy as  to  their  proper  place,  and  some  have 
assigned  them  to  a  date  after  the  retul-n  from  exile. 
They  stand  as  the  last  three  chapters  of  Zech- 
ariah,  with  the  introductory  note,  "  the  burden  of 
the  word  of  the  Lord  concerning  Israel,"  and  show 
signs  of  interpolation  and  variation  at  a  time  later 
than  the  original  composition.  There  is  a  slight 
tone  of  contrast  with  Jeremiah  in  this  oracle,  and 
it  disparages  the  function  of  the  professional  proph- 
et. The  references  to  events  are  too  vague  or  too 
allegorical  to  be  identified,  but  the  burden  of  the 
utterance  appears  to  be  a  promise  of  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  over  all  their 
enemies.  This  reflects  the  tone  of  the  earlier 
prophets,  and  its  spirit  is  not  that  of  the  post-ex- 
ilic dreams  of  the  future.  It  is  one  of  the  early 
gleams  of  the  prophet's  vision  of  the  time  when 
"  the  Lord  shall  be  king  over  the  whole  earth." 

The  book  v>-hich   bears  the  title  Lamentations 


328  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

Avas  in  early  times  attached  as  a  sort  of  pendant  to 
JeremiaL,  and  its  composition  was  attributed  to 
the  prophet,  but  the  association  cannot  be  traced 
within  two  or  three  centuries  of  his  time,  and  is  in 
plain  contradiction  of  known  facts  and  inconsistent 
with  the  character  of  the  book.  It  had  its  origin 
long  after  the  prophet's  death,  and  in  a  land  far 
distant  from  the  scene  of  his  last  days.  Moreover, 
it  has  none  of  the  resolute  tone  and  masculine 
spirit  of  that  stern  censor  and  invincible  believer 
in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  Jehovah's  people. 

The  first  four  chapters  are  a  series  of  wailing 
elegies  over  the  desolation  of  Jerusalem,  the  sins 
and  sufferings  of  her  people  and  the  just  anger 
of  God.  They  are  full  of  sorrow  and  humili- 
ation, with  only  subdued  gleams  of  hope.  They 
were  unquestionably  written  among  the  exiles 
of  Babylon,  but  just  when  and  by  what  person 
or  persons  it  is  impossible  to  determine.  They 
are  artificial  compositions,  the  twenty-two  verses 
of  chapters  i.,  ii.,  and  iv.,  and  the  twenty-two 
sets  of  three  verses  in  chapter  iii.,  beginning  with 
the  successive  letters  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet,  and 
they  were  long  used  in  the  liturgical  service  on  the 
occasion  of  the  annual  weeping  over  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem.  There  is  a  deep  strain  of  pathos  in 
these  dirges,  but  it  hardly  has  the  spontaneity  of 
personal  grief. 


HABAKKUK,    ANONYMOUS   CHAPTERS  339 

The  fifth  chapter  does  not  belong  to  the 
original  series,  and  the  form  of  composition  is 
different.  It  is  rather  a  supplication  for  a  return 
of  divine  favor  tlian  a  mourning  over  its  loss,  and 
it  has  almost  the  tone  of  despair.  It  appears  to 
have  been  written  during  the  period  of  the  exile, 
but  by  one  who  was  left  in  the  midst  of  the  deso- 
lation of  Judah.  This  is  wholly  a  matter  of  sur- 
mise from  the  nature  of  its  contents,  for  nothing  is 
actually  known  of  any  part  of  the  book,  except 
that  it  appeared  as  a  whole  in  the  Jewish  script- 
ures l<mg  after  the  time  to  Avhich  it  relates.  Con- 
nectiog  writings  of  similar  character  and  different 
origin  and  associating  them  with  some  well-known 
or  venerated  name  was  no  uncommon  practice  in 
the  long  process  of  making  up  that  collection  of 
literature.  It  was  in  accordance  with  this  prac- 
tice that  this  series  of  elegies  was  designated  as 
the  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah. 


XV 


THE  BOOK  OF  THE  PKOPHET  EZE- 
KIEL 

Hardly  any  book  of  the  Old  Testament  has 
come  down  to  us  so  free  from  mutilation  or 
change  as  that  which  contains  the  ^A^itings  of  the 
great  prophet  of  the  Babylonian  exile.  Its  oracles 
and  descriptions  were  arranged  by  himself  in 
their  chronological  order,  and  if  they  underwent 
revision  it  was  probably  by  his  own  hand.  There 
are  variations  and  corruptions  of  text,  but  these 
are  mainly  due  to  copyists.  Ezekiel  had  been 
brought  up  as  a  young  23riest  at  Jerusalem  under 
the  influence  of  Jeremiah,  was  carried  away  with 
Jehoiachin  at  the  time  of  the  first  transportation, 
and  was  one  of  a  colony  of  captives  on  the  "  river 
Chebar,"  an  unidentified  stream,  which  may  have 
been  simply  the  great  canal  at  Babykm.  He  was 
in  constant  communication  with  his  native  coun- 
try and  familiar  with  events  passing  there,  and  in 
the  course  of  four  or  five  years  he  felt  called  upon 
to  utter  warnings  against  the  doings  of  the  people 
and  the  perils  they  were    bringing   upon  them- 


THE  BOOK  OF  THE  PROPHET  EZEKIEL  331 

selves.  He  was  in  a  position  to  appreci^ite  the 
utter  futility  of  resisting  the  power  of  Babylon 
and  plotting  to  throv/  off  its  yoke,  and  foresaw  the 
consequences  of  any  such  policy.  Moreover,  he 
shared  the  conviction  of  the  other  prophets  that 
the  national  calamities  were  due  to  the  sins  of  the 
people  and  were  a  just  infliction  from  the  God  to 
whom  they  had  proved  faithless. 

The  first  twenty-four  chapters  of  the  book  em- 
body a  series  of  twenty-nine  oracles,  covering  the 
three  or  four  years  preceding  the  siege  of  Jerusa- 
lem by  Nebuchadnezzar  in  590  B.C.,  and  relating 
to  events  there  and  among  the  exiles  in  Babylon. 
The  imagery  with  which  the  prophet  introduced 
and  impressed  his  mission  to  speak  for  Jehovah 
marked  a  new  departure  in  the  method  of  claiming 
inspiration  and  prefigured  the  apocalyptic  devices 
of  a  later  time.  The  imagery  and  symbolism  were 
derived  from  the  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  elements 
which,  with  those  of  Phoenician  origin,  always 
constituted  the  materials  for  pictorial  effect  among 
the  Hebrews,  who  lacked  the  faculty  of  creative 
ideality. 

The  preliminary  descriptions  of  revelation  are 
rather  grotesque  than  poetical  or  impressive  to 
the  modern  mind,  and  the  devices  representing 
the  siege  and  its  effects  seem  rather  puerile. 
But  there  is  something  of  the  old  prophetic  fire 


332  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

in  the  denunciation  of  continued  idolatry  and 
iniquity  among  a  people  who  had  evidently  not 
been  sufficiently  scourged,  and  in  the  descrip- 
tions of  the  calamities  still  awaiting  them.  But 
these  were  mingled  with  symbolical  details  which 
seem  now  to  detract  from  their  effect.  Ezekiel 
was  in  full  sympathy  with  Jeremiah  in  advocating 
submission  to  Babylon,  and  in  denouncing  those 
who  counselled  resistance  and  an  Egyptian  al- 
liance, and  he  could  predict  with  certainty  that  the 
result  would  be  a  new  invasion,  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem  and  desolation  of  Judah,  and  an- 
other transportation  of  the  inhabitants.  The  actual 
investment  of  the  capital  by  a  hostile  army  was 
announced  Avith  a  fierce  cry  of  woe  in  chapter  xxiv. 

The  old  figure  of  harlotry,  as  representing  the 
infidelity  of  Israel  to  Jehovah,  is  carried  to  rather 
a  coarse  extreme  by  this  priestly  prophet,  though 
there  is  no  denying  its  expressiveness,  and  he 
represents  the  idolatry  to  which  it  refers  as  begin- 
ning in  Egypt  and  continuing  to  his  own  time, 
even  infecting  the  circle  of  exiles  about  him. 

The  oracles  put  forth  by  Ezekiel  during  the  two 
years'  siege  of  Jerusalem,  contained  in  chapters 
xxv.-xxxii.  of  the  book,  are  directed  against  the 
enemies  of  his  country,  and  rise  to  a  fierce  inten- 
sity in  the  threats  of  retribution  upon  Tyre  and 
Egypt.     The  predictions  of  dire  disaster  and  utter 


THE  BOOK  OF  THE  PROPHET  EZEKIEL  333 

destruction  were  never  fulfilled.  The  last  five 
verses  of  chapter  xxix.  are  a  curious  addition,  to 
explain  the  non-fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  against 
Tyre  in  chapter  xxvi.,  but  the  promised  recom- 
pense in  Egypt  failed  also.  When  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem  was  announced,  as  appears  in  chapter 
xxxiii.,  the  prophet  set  himself  up  as  a  "  watch- 
man "  for  his  people,  striving  still  to  impress  upon 
them  the  heinousness  of  the  offences  which  had 
brought  desolation  upon  their  land.  It  should  be 
kept  in  mind  that  the  utterances  which  follow, 
undoubtedly  written  out  with  care  by  Ezekiel  him- 
self, extend  over  a  period  of  fifteen  or  sixteen 
years. 

They  dwell  first  upon  the  delinquencies  of  the 
shepherds  of  Israel,  meaning  the  rulers,  and  a 
consequent  dispersion  of  the  flock,  but  hold  forth 
the  promise  of  restoration  under  one  faithful 
shepherd,  even  David,  who  will  be  prince  among 
them.  Their  enemies  are  again  denounced  and 
threatened  with  destruction.  From  among  all  the 
hostile  nations  the  Lord  is  to  gather  his  people, 
cleansed  and  purified,  those  of  Ephraim  as  well  as 
those  of  Judah,  and  they  are  to  be  established 
with  one  king,  of  the  house  of  David,  under  an 
everlasting  covenant  of  peace,  for  the  vindication 
of  the  name  of  Jehovah.  Included  among  those 
that  are  to  be  vanquished,  as  a  guarantee  of  per- 


334  THE  JEWISH  SCRIP  TUBES 

petual  peace,  is  Gog  of  the  land  of  Magog,  whereby 
is  figured  that  mysterious  power  of  the  North  vrhicli 
had  long  been  an  object  of  vague  terror,  doubt- 
less including  the  Scythians,  of  whose  overwhelm- 
ing numbers  and  irresistible  movement  there  had 
been  rumors  ever  since  the  days  of  Hezekiah.  In 
short,  all  sources  of  danger  and  of  fear  were  to  be 
extinguished,  and  the  remnant  of  God's  people 
was  to  take  possession  of  the  ancient  heritage. 

The  latest  work  of  Ezekiel,  beginning  according 
to  his  own  statement  about  575  B.C.,  and  included 
in  the  last  nine  chapters  of  his  book,  consisted  of 
definite  plans  for  the  restoration  of  the  temple, 
of  the  "  holy  city  "  of  his  people,  and  full  posses- 
sion of  the  land,  with  extended  borders,  and  for 
the  re-establishment  of  the  worship  of  Jehovah  on 
a  newly  organized  system.  He  describes  his  plans 
in  the  form  of  visions  and  of  direct  instructions 
from  the  Lord,  and  goes  so  far  as  to  make  an  allot- 
ment of  the  tribes  and  special  provision  for  the 
Levites,  who  are  to  be  devoted  to  the  service  of 
the  temple.  This  was  nearly  half  a  century  before 
the  actual  return  of  the  exiles  and  there  w^as  then 
no  prospect  of  deliverance.  We  know  nothing  of 
the  prophet's  death,  but  he  disai:)pears  silently 
from  the  scene,  leaving  his  visions  and  promises 
to  nourish  the  hopes  of  the  forlorn  captives. 

The  course  of  human  events  departed   widely 


THE  BOOK  OF  THE  PROPHET  EZEKIEL  335 

from  the  dreams  aud  plans  of  Ezekiel,  but  these 
had  a  far-reaching  effect  nevertheless.  No  doubt 
they  sustained  the  courage  and  stimulated  the 
hopes  of  the  exiled  people,  and  held  them  to  the 
never-failing  purpose  of  keeping  themselves  apiirt 
and  regaining  the  land  of  a  promise  that  could 
never  fail,  and  of  exalting  Sion  as  "  the  centre  of 
a  world's  desire."  While  irresistible  forces  pre- 
vented these  plans  from  being  realized,  for  the 
dispersed  tribes  vv^ere  never  to  be  gathered  again, 
and  no  prince  of  the  house  of  David  was  ever 
again  to  sit  upon  a  throne  in  Jerusalem,  they  were 
not  forgotten,  and  were  not  without  effect  when 
the  poAver  of  Persia  broke  the  bonds  of  Babylon 
and  let  the  people  go,  what  time  the  clarion  voice 
of  the  second  Isaiah  inflamed  to  fever  heat  the 
new  hopes  of  the  scattered  nation. 

It  was  not  u^Don  the  lines  laid  down  in  the  visions 
of  Ezekiel  that  the  temple  was  restored,  Jerusalem 
was  rebuilt,  and  the  land  partitioned,  and  there 
was  no  such  conquest  over  the  enemies  of  Israel  or 
extension  of  the  power  of  the  kingdom  of  Sion  over 
the  earth.  But  it  was  upon  those  lines  that  the 
service  of  the  second  temple  was  built  up  and  the 
Levitical  law  developed.  They  were  earned  be- 
yond Ezekiel's  outlines  in  many  directions,  but  he 
furnished  the  general  design,  and  the  effect  appears 
not  only  in  the  system  which  grew  up,  but  in  a 


336  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTUHES 

conforming  of  the  oldest  records  to  a  sanction  of 
the  new  order  of  things.  Not  only  laws  and  acts 
attributed  to  Moses,  but  the  partition  and  allot- 
ment of  lands,  and  the  provision  for  Levites,  cred- 
ited to  Joshua,  had  their  origin  in  the  fervid  brain 
of  the  prophet  of  the  captivity,  though  the  high- 
priesthood,  with  Aaron  as  the  mythical  head  of  the 
line,  and  the  inner  sanctuary,  based  uj)on  the 
elaborate  ark  in  the  tent  of  meeting,  were  later  than 
his  conception.  The  priests  and  scribes  of  the 
second  temple  were  long  busy  in  adapting  the 
story  of  the  past  to  the  support  of  the  system  then 
established,  as  a  means  of  consecrating  and 
strengthening  it ;  but  the  most  conspicuous  lumin- 
ary of  that  dark  interval  between  the  history  of 
Israel  as  a  nation  and  the  history  of  Judaism  as 
an  institution  was  the  prophet  who  saw  visions 
and  dreamed  dreams  by  the  "  river  Chebar." 


XVI 
HAGGAI,  ZECHAEIAH,  MALACHI 

The  second  year  of  Darius  was  the  year  520 
B.C.,  sixteen  years  after  the  return  from  captivity, 
and,  notwithstanding  the  account  in  the  Book  of 
Ezra,  which  represents  the  work  of  rebuilding  the 
temple  as  having  been  taken  up  with  promptness 
and  zeal,  it  would  seem  from  the  reproaches  of  Hag- 
gai  that  it  had  languished,  while  the  people  devoted 
themselves  to  repairing  their  own  fortunes,  until 
overtaken  by  famine  and  '*  hard  times."  Haggai 
was  api>arently  an  old  man,  perhaps  one  of  those 
who  had  seen  "  this  house  in  its  former  glory." 
The  comparative  feeblenesses  of  his  utterances  is 
consistent  with  that  supposition.  The  four  brief 
oracles  which,  with  slight  narratives,  constitute 
the  two  chapters  of  his  "  prophecy,"  cover  only  a 
short  space  of  three  or  four  months,  and  nothing 
more  is  heard  of  him. 

He  begins  by  mildly  reproaching  the  people  for 
their  apathy  and  for  neglecting  the  house  of  the 
Lord  while  preparing  "  ceiled  houses  "  for  them- 
selves, and  attributes  the  drought  from  which 
22 


338  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

the  land  suffered  to  this  indifference.  Having 
"  stirred  np  "  the  work  of  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
he  endeavors  to  comfort  the  people  for  the  hum- 
bleness of  the  beginning,  and  to  encourage  them 
with  the  promise  that  the  Lord  of  hosts  would 
come  to  their  rescue  with  the  riches  of  the  nations, 
and  make  the  latter  glory  of  the  temple  greater 
than  its  former  gloiy.  Blessing  and  plenty  were 
to  begin  from  the  laying  of  the  foundation  of  the 
Lord's  temple.  The  final  word  of  the  aged  proph- 
et was  a  repetition  of  the  ancient  promise  of 
future  greatness  for  the  nation,  and  he  evidently 
fixed  his  hopes  upon  Zerubbabel  to  restore  the 
royal  line  of  David. 

Zechariah,  who  began  to  speak  even  before 
Haggai  ceased,  refers  to  himself  as  a  "  young  man." 
He  sets  out  with  an  anxious  reminder  of  what  the 
people  had  sufi'ered  in  the  past  through  a  disre- 
gard of  the  messages  of  the  prophets,  and  with  an 
appeal  to  avoid  the  evil  ways  of  the  fathers. 
Then  he  proceeds  with  a  series  of  visions  of  the 
night,  representing  the  Lord  a.s  having  "  waked  up 
out  of  his  holy  habitation,"  with  the  design  of 
Vv'reaking  vengeance  upon  the  nations  which  he 
had  used  in  afflicting  Israel,  and  of  restoring  Sion 
as  the  centre  of  his  power  and  his  beneficence, 
whither  should  gather  not  only  the  dispersed 
people  but  many  nations  which  were  to  join  them- 


HAGGAI,  ZECHARIAH,   MALACHI  339 

selves  to  the  Lord.  The  symbolism  which  figures 
the  restoration  of  power  at  Jerusalem  was  doubt- 
less intentionally  obscure,  on  account  of  the  Per- 
sian authority,  which  might  be  offended  by  any 
distinct  claims. 

There  is  evidence  in  the  vision  of  chapters 
iii.  and  iv.  of  the  conflict  between  the  secular  au- 
thority of  Zerubbabel  and  the  priestly  authority 
of  Joshua,  and  the  prophet  appears  as  a  partisan 
of  the  latter,  and  finally,  in  the  latter  part  of  chap- 
ter vi.,  has  him  crowned  as  the  ruler,  while  the 
prince  of  the  house  of  David  seems  to  disappear. 
The  promised  "Branch,"  or  shoot  from  the  root 
of  Jesse,  appears  thus  to  take  form  in  the  high- 
priest.  The  visions  of  chapter  v.  are  symbolical 
of  purging  the  land  of  crimes  and  transferring  its 
guilt  to  Chaldea,  while  the  first  part  of  chapter 
vi.  represents  the  chariots  of  the  Lord  as  going 
over  the  earth  to  the  four  winds  to  quiet  the  spirit 
of  hostility. 

There  is  an  interval  between  these  visions  and 
the  oracles  of  chapters  vii.  and  viii.,  which  contain 
another  reminder  of  the  evil  doings  of  the  past  and 
their  consequences,  and  an  appeal  to  heed  the 
words  of  the  Lord,  followed  by  another  glowing 
promise  of  greatness  and  prosperity  in  the  future, 
when  "  many  peoples  and  strong  nations  "  should 
come  to   seek  the  Lord  of   hosts   in   Jerusalem. 


340  THE  JEWISH  SCKIPTUEES 

These  eight  chapters  constitute  all  the  genuine 
writings  of  Zechariah,  the  rest  of  the  book  consist- 
ing of  additions  of  older  material  which  have  al- 
ready been  accounted  for. 

There  was  one  more  prophet  in  Israel,  at  the 
time  when  Nehemiah  was  striving  to  build  up  the 
service  in  the  restored  temple,  to  enforce  observ- 
ance of  the  law,  and  to  keep  the  people  from  in- 
termarrying with  those  who  were  not  of  their 
faith,  and  thereby  falling  into  idolatrous  ways. 
It  is  not  impossible  that  Maleaki,  "  my  messen- 
ger," was  a  proper  name,  but  it  is  not  likely. 
Men  now  ceased  to  come  forward  in  their  own  per- 
son as  spokesmen  of  Jehovah,  and  the  time  had 
gone  by  for  producing  effect  by  attaching  anony- 
mous oracles  to  an  ancient  and  venerated  name. 
Hence  the  ''burden  of  the  Lord"  appeared  in 
this  case  as  having  come  simply  by  "Maleaki," 
the  messenger.  But  it  is  a  melancholy  burden,  in- 
dicating the  enormous  lapse  from  the  spirit  of 
ancient  prophecy  and  the  deep  depression  of  the 
nation's  hopes.  The  intensely  practical  way  in 
which  human  forces  proceeded  in  spite  of  the  prom- 
ises of  what  Jehovah  was  going  to  do  had  a  dis- 
couraging effect. 

The  burden  of  the  complaint  now  was  against 
the  priests  for  polluting  the  altars  with  imperfect 
sacrifices,  and   against   the    people    for   slighting 


HAOOAT,   ZECHARTAH^   MALACHI  341 

their  ofterings  and  oblations,  and  profaning  tlie 
holiness  of  the  Lord  by  marrying  with  the  heathen. 
The  Levitical  system  was  producing  its  effect,  and 
Pharisaism  was  already  growing.  The  old  threats 
of  chastising  and  purifying  the  nation  and  restoring 
a  remnant  to  greatness  and  future  glory  were  no 
longer  available.  The  nation  was  dead,  and  its 
hopes  of  power  and  grandeur  were  buried.  The 
last  voice  of  prophec}^  was  not  clear  or  strong.  It 
came  to  deal  not  with  the  fate  of  a  nation  amonsf  the 
nations,  but  with  the  fate  of  the  righteous  and  the 
wicked  among  the  people.  The  Jewish  mind  was 
still  closed  to  the  idea  of  reward  and  punishment 
after  this  life,  but  it  was  driven  to  a  day  of  retri- 
bution of  some  kind,  as  a  justification  of  its  in- 
vincible faith.  There  was  no  belief  in  a  sur- 
vival or  revival  after  death,  but,  according  to  the 
accepted  legend,  Elijah  had  never  died,  but  had 
been  taken  up  bodily  to  be  among  the  "  sons  of 
God,"  and  therefore  he  might  be  sent  as  the  fore- 
runner of  "the  great  and  terrible  day."  With 
this  vague  conception  of  a  day  of  retribution  out 
of  which  so  much  was  to  be  wrought  in  later  times 
the  volume  of  Hebrew  prophecy  closed. 


XVII 

ESTHEE 

The  Book  of  Esther  is  not  historical.  Neither 
is  it  relisfious  or  moral.  There  is  no  historical 
evidence  and  no  probability  that  Xerxes  (Aha- 
suerus),  the  king  of  the  Persians,  ever  made  a 
Jewess  his  queen,  or  exalted  a  Jew  to  the  highest 
official  station  in  place  of  a  fallen  favorite,  fallen 
under  the  resentment  of  the  Jew  and  his  com- 
patriots on  account  of  an  atrocious  design  against 
them.  The  Jews  had  derived  from  the  Persians 
a  secular  festival,  which  was  introduced  into  Pal- 
estine, and  which  gradually  took  on  a  religious 
character  and  came  to  be  known  as  the  Purim. 
It  was  not  religious  in  its  origin  or  its  early  ob- 
servance, but  it  was  common  among  the  Jews  to 
attach  their  feast-days  to  some  sort  of  legend  as- 
sociating them  with  significant  incidents  of  their 
history,  real  or  imaginary.  This  story  is  an  ob- 
vious fiction  to  account  for  the  Purim  and  invest 
it  with  the  pride  of  the  Jewish  race,  which  in 
one  form  or  another  was  always  conspicuous  and 
irrepressible. 


ESTHER  348 

Apart  from  tlie  iuuate  improbability  tliat  ap- 
pears ill  every  line,  its  unknown  author  could  not 
have  written  within  a  hundreil  years  of  the  events 
he  professes  to  relate,  and  there  is  no  evidence  of 
the  existence  of  the  production  for  a  century  or 
two  later  still.  It  seems  to  belong  to  the  period 
of  literary  decadence  in  which  the  Book  of  Chron- 
icles was  produced  and  that  of  Ezra  wt.s  com- 
piled. There  is  a  certain  affinity  between  it  and 
the  intercalated  passage  in  Ezra  from  iv.  6  to  vi. 
13,  in  which  the  dates  of  Persian  kings  are  hope- 
lessly confused.  What  chance  is  there  that  a 
narrative  written  then,  with  such  minute  detail, 
could  be  based  upon  facts,  of  which  no  other 
evidence  survived,  and  Avhich  Avere  in  themselves 
wildly  improbable  ?  It  was  very  likely  never  meant 
by  the  Jewish  mind  to  be  taken  as  fact,  and  it 
is  chiefly  interesting  as  a  late  example  of  that 
peculiar  art  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  for  giving  a 
matter-of-fact  appearance  to  a  narration  of  imag- 
inary and  essentially  improbable  events,  in  pur- 
suance of  some  definite  purpose,  generally  religious 
or  ethical. 

The  Deity  is  not  mentioned  or  indirectly  al- 
luded to  in  the  book,  nor  is  anything  referred  to 
which  has  any  relation  to  the  faith  of  Israel. 
Neither  does  the  book  contain  any  sound  moral 
sentiment    or   meaning,  but   it  is   saturated  w^itli 


344  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

pride  of  race  in  its  most  olfeusive  guise.  Esther 
is  represented  as  being  exalted  to  the  place  of 
favorite  queen  to  the  luxurious  king  bj  a  sort  of 
craft  on  the  part  of  herself  and  her  uncle,  not  cred- 
itable to  either  or  to  their  race.  There  is  nothing 
admirable  in  Mordecai's  refusal  to  show  the  cus- 
tomary deference  to  the  chief  dignitary  of  the  em- 
pire, but  it  flattered  the  Jewish  egotism ;  and  it 
is  likely  that  in  an  actual  case  the  dignitary 
would  have  made  short  work  of  the  offender,  in- 
stead of  undertaking  to  exterminate  his  compa- 
triots in  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  provinces, 
supposing  even  a  Persian  king  to  have  been  capa- 
ble of  accediug  to  such  an  extraordinary  design  for 
a  money  bribe.  Even  if  Xerxes  had  been  willing 
to  exterminate  all  the  Jews  in  his  dominion  to 
please  Haman,  and  for  the  purpose  of  reaching 
Mordecai,  who  was  all  the  while  within  easy  reach, 
he  would  hardly  have  consented,  after  the  evil  de- 
sign was  exposed,  to  let  these  Jews  massacre 
seventy-five  thousand  of  his  native  subjects.  If 
ho  had  done  so,  it  would  have  been  a  monstrous 
act,  and  it  is  no  less  monstrous  to  suppose  that 
Esther  and  Mordecai  really  compassed  that  Avliole- 
sale  slaughter.  Even  admitting  that  Haman,  in 
the  case  supposed,  deserved  hanging  on  his  own 
unnecessarily  exalted  gibbet,  where  v/as  the  justice 
in  slaying  his  ten  sons  and  his  fellow-citizens  to 


ESTHER  345 

the  number  of  five  liUDdred,  besides  other  of  his 
countrymen  by  thousands,  and  elevating  the  author 
of  the  whole  bloody  business  to  the  highest  office 
in  the  state  ? 

No,  the  Book  of  Esther  is  not  a  religious  book, 
it  inculcates  no  moral  lesson,  and  happily  it  is 
not  historical.  It  does  not  even  account  for  the 
Purim,  and  it  exhibits  the  Hebrew  in  exile  in  an 
odious  light.  There  is  surely  nothing  in  it  of  the 
spirit  of  Christianity,  or  even  of  the  better  spirit 
of  Judaism.  It  is  not  referred  to  in  the  Ncav 
Testament,  and  it  was  admitted  to  the  Hebrew 
canon,  after  inuch  hesitation  and  dispute,  even 
among  strictly  Jewish  authorities,  probably  af- 
ter the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  and  then 
only  because  of  its  relation  to  the  feast  of  the 
Purim. 


XVIII 
THE  BOOK    OF   JOB 

Taking  up  now  the  Book  of  Job,  we  are  carried 
back  to  the  loftiest  height  of  the  ancient  Hebrew 
literature,  in  the  golden  age  of  Hezekiah,  when 
the  ringing  voice  of  Isaiah  was  still  heard  among 
the  living.  There  has  been  much  disputation 
about  the  time  and  authorship  of  this  grand  pro- 
duction. There  is  nowhere  in  it  a  reference  to 
place  or  event  that  will  help  to  fix  its  date  or 
throw  light  upon  the  circumstances  of  its  com- 
position. It  is  essentially  dramatic  in  character, 
the  scene  is  thrown  back  to  a  patriarchal  age,  the 
personages  are  foreign  to  the  soil  of  Israel,  and 
the  atmosphere  is  that  of  the  wide  universe. 

Formerly  there  was  an  opinion  that  it  was  not  in 
its  origin  a  Hebrew  production,  but  was  adopted 
and  translated  from  the  work  of  some  Idumean 
or  Arabian  sage.  Not  only  was  that  opinion  with- 
out warrant,  but  of  all  the  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment this  contains  the  most  perfect  embodiment 
of  the  Hebrew  spirit.  Its  substance  is  the  very 
philosophy  at  the  bottom  of  the  faith  of   Israel, 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  347 

and  it   deals   with  the  insokible  problem  of   that 
faith. 

Its  exalted  tone,  the  mighty  sweep  of  its  ex- 
pression, and  the  firm  vibration  of  its  language 
seem  to  exclude  it  from  any  place  much  earlier 
or  much  later  than  the  first  great  prophet  of 
Jerusalem.  One  w^ould  say  that  the  author  was 
familiar  with  the  patriarchal  legends  and  the 
grandiose  conceptions  of  the  account  of  the  early 
days  of  the  world,  and  that  he  knew  nothing  of 
the  laws  and  statutes  and  sacrificial  requirements 
with  which  the  Hebrew  genius  was  gradually  put 
in  bonds.  Like  so  man}^  other  great  productions 
of  that  genius,  this  one  magnificent  poem  comes 
down  to  us  without  name  or  date,  but  it  bears  the 
ineffaceable  impress  of  the  faith  that  carried  Israel 
through  so  many  trials,  only  to  mould  and  hammer 
its  qualities  into  a  temper  which  contact  with  other 
races  for  ages  could  not  relax. 

The  foundation  of  the  Hebrew  faith  at  its  high- 
est was  belief  in  an  all-powerful  God,  who  in  his 
dealings  with  men  was  righteous  altogether,  doing 
full  justice  in  this  world,  "  here  on  this  bank  and 
shoal  of  time."  It  refused  to  look  beyond  for  rec- 
ompense or  retribution.  In  spite  of  calamities, 
in  the  face  of  experience,  this  faith  Avas  persisted 
in,  with  many  risings  and  fallings,  for  wellnigh 
a   thousand  years.     Wrong-doing   was   punished, 


348  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

riglit-Joiug  Lad  its  reward.  If  there  was  disaster 
or  sutfering  it  was  on  account  of  sin,  and  every 
seeming  contradiction  of  this  principle  had  its  ex- 
planation in  some  inscrutable  design  of  a  Deity 
that  could  not  err.     This  is  the  theme  of  Job. 

It  is  introduced  by  a  prose  prologue  describ- 
ing the  righteousness  and  prosperity  of  the  man  of 
Uz,  and  the  calamities  that  befell  him,  as  a  test  of 
his  uprightness.  Then  came  his  series  of  com- 
l^laints  and  appeals,  each,  except  the  last,  followed 
by  a  reply  from  one  of  his  three  friends.  The 
burden  of  Job's  protest  is  against  the  validity,  in 
his  own  case,  of  the  doctrine  of  which  he  is  to  be 
made  the  great  exemplar.  He  is  conscious  of  his 
rectitude  and  rejects  with  scorn  every  imputation 
that  he  is  punished  for  wrong-doing,  wdiile  the  re- 
plies of  Eliphaz,  Bildad,  and  Zophar  are  constant 
variations  on  the  theme  that  God  is  incapable  of 
injustice  ;  that  where  evident  punishment  is  going 
on  there  must  have  been  sin,  and  it  is  sheer  pre- 
sumption to  pretend  otherwise. 

The  debate  goes  on  upon  a  rising  scale,  and  Job 
not  only  withers  his  accusers  with  indignant  scorn, 
but  boldly  challenges  God  himself  to  justify  his 
treatment  of  a  faithful  servitor.  Finally  the  Al- 
mighty answers  the  challenge  out  of  the  whirlwind, 
but  the  answer  consists  of  an  overpowering- 
portrayal  of  the  might  and  wisdom  of  God,  the  in- 


TUE  BOOK  OF  JOB  349 

significance  of  man,  and  the  presumption  of  ques- 
tioning tlie  justice  of  his  treatment.  Job  is  si- 
lenced and  humbled,  but,  after  all,  his  indictment 
is  untried,  and  the  insoluble  problem  is  left  un- 
solved, and  it  has  never  since  been  solved.  Tak- 
ing into  account  only  this  life,  no  one  has  suc- 
ceeded in  justifying  the  ways  of  God  to  man,  and 
human  experience  keeps  up  an  everlasting  denial  of 
the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  old  faith  of  Israel, 
that  the  righteous  is  rewarded  with  prosperity  and 
long  life,  while  the  wicked  encounters  adversity 
and  is  cut  off  in  the  midst  of  his  days. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  long  discourse 
of  Elihu,  interposed  between  the  end  of  "the 
words  of  Job,"  and  the  answer  to  them  out  of  the 
whirlwind,  is  a  later  production  and  by  a  different 
hand.  Dignified  and  noble  though  this  passage 
may  seem,  compared  to  what  precedes  and  follows 
it  is  a  fiat  and  arid  plain  between  two  sublime 
heights.  It  was  evidently  written  by  one  ^\'ho  was 
not  satisfied  with  the  arguments  of  Job's  three 
friends,  and  was  especially  discontented  to  have 
them  abandon  the  field  after  his  last  prolonged 
plea.  But  this  new  advocate  of  the  Almighty's 
cause  hardly  strengthens  the  case.  He  goes  over 
the  same  ground  in  a  more  pretentious  but  less 
eloquent  and  forcible  style,  and  leaves  it  much  as 
he  found  it. 


350  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

It  has  been  questioned  whether  the  pai-t  of  Job's 
last  discourse  from  chapter  xxvii.  7  to  the  end  of 
chapter  xxviii.,  is  a  genuine  portion  of  the  original, 
because  in  it  he  seems  to  abandon  his  ground  and 
practically  to  accept  the  argument  of  his  friends 
as  to  the  immutable  justice  and  inscrutable  wisdom 
of  God.  Some  have  been  disposed  to  regard  it  as 
the  final  reply  of  Zophar,  since  in  the  text  as  it 
stands  he  is  not  given  a  third  turn  like  the  others. 
But  it  may  have  been  part  of  the  design  of  the 
author  to  represent  Job  in  his  calmer  moments  as 
accepting  the  theory  of  God's  justice  to  the  fullest 
extent,  while  still  insisting  upon  his  own  rectitude 
and  defying  anybody  to  sustain  charges  against 
his  life.  Some  have  also  maintained  that  the  final 
description  of  the  behem^oth  and  leviathan  are 
additions,  but  if  so,  they  must  have  been  added  by 
the  author  of  the  rest  of  the  poem. 

The  genuineness  of  the  prose  prologue  and 
epilogue  has  been  questioned,  but  they  form  a 
necessary  frame  to  the  dramatic  scene.  The  use 
of  the  name  Jehovah  in  these,  v/hile  in  the  dis- 
courses the  Deity  is  designated  as  El,  Eloah,  or 
Shaddai,  is  in  keeping  with  the  dramatic  purpose 
and  form  of  the  composition.  The  epilogue  opens 
the  door  of  escape  for  the  doctrine  wdiich  really 
had  the  worst  of  the  argument,  for  Job  is  repre- 
sented as  receiving  in  the  end  the  proper  recom- 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  351 

pense  of  his  righteousness  in  redoubled  prosperity 
and  prolonged  life.  There  seems  to  be  a  curious 
inconsistency  in  the  representation  that  Job  was 
commended  as  saying  of  the  Lord  "  the  thing  that 
was  right,"  though  he  had  been  rebuked  for  dark- 
ening coTUisel  by  words  Avithout  knowledge,  while 
the  officious  advocates  of  the  Almighty's  cause  had 
to  make  humble  reparation  for  their  folly.  But 
this  is  quite  in  keeping  with  the  lack  of  attention 
to  details  of  literary  art  in  some  of  the  greatest 
productions  of  the  Semitic  mind,  so  long  as  the 
general  purpose  Avas  served. 

There  are  two  points  regarding  Avliich  it  may  be 
well  to  note  a  common  misconception.  There  is 
nothing  more  certain  than  that  the  idea  of  life 
after  death,  or  of  resurrection  in  any  form,  was 
utterly  foreign  to  the  theology  of  the  Hebrews  be- 
fore they  came  into  subjection  to  foreign  powers. 
In  the  verses  near  the  end  of  chapter  xix.  Job 
makes  an  appeal  for  pity  at  the  terrible  condition 
to  which  he  is  reduced  by  disease,  expresses  the 
wish  that  an  indelible  record  might  be  made  of 
his  words,  and  then  declares  his  unconquerable 
confidence  that,  though  his  body  should  be  utterly 
wasted  away,  his  vindicator  would  yet  stand  upon 
the  earth,  and  that  he  would  see  him,  in  restored 
flesh  and  health.  This  is  consistent  with  his  faith, 
with  the  doctrine  of  the  author  of  the  poem,  and  with 


S52  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

the  theology  of  the  gTeatest  teachers  and  prophets 
of  Israel. 

The  other  point  to  be  noted  is  that  the  Satan  of 
the  prologue  has  no  analogy  with  the  spirit  of  evil 
of  the  Persian  mythology  or  the  Christian  theol- 
ogy. He  is  simply  one  of  the  messengers  or  agents 
which  Jehovah  was  sometimes  represented  as  hav- 
ing at  his  command  to  serve  his  own  purposes. 
In  the  character  of  the  "  adversary  "  he  is  used  as 
the  instrument  for  bringing  affliction  upon  Job  to 
test  his  fidelity,  and  so  far  as  we  can  assign  him  a 
general  function  from  this  slight  allusion,  it  seems 
to  have  been  that  of  a  detective,  with  the  cynical 
view  of  human  nature  which  is  apt  to  belong  to 
that  character. 


XIX 
THE  PSALMS 

It  would  be  interesting,  if  it  were  possible,  to 
trace  to  their  sources  and  assign  to  their  several 
periods  of  production,  the  poems,  hymns,  and 
songs  of  praise  that  constitute  the  collection  known 
as  The  Psalms,  but  the  effort  to  do  so,  with  the 
surviving  data,  would  be  tedious,  and  it  would  be 
futile.  The  periods  of  production  extend  over 
something  like  eight  centuries,  and  in  the  collec- 
tion are  confused  reflections  of  the  vicissitudes  of 
the  people,  and  the  state  of  feeling  produced  by 
them,  from  the  establishment  of  the  first  kingdom 
to  the  struggle  of  the  Maccabees  for  emancipation 
from  the  tyranny  of  the  Seleucides. 

No  considerable  part  of  the  collection  was  made 
until  the  restoration  of  the  temple  service  after 
the  return  from  captivity,  and  then  it  was  intended 
primarily  for  the  uses  of  that  service,  and  not  as 
examples  of  poetical  production  or  illustrations  of 
history.  Additions  were  made  from  time  to  time, 
with  little  care  for  classification  and  no  regard  for 
chronological  order.  New  pieces  might  at  any 
23 


S54  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

time  be  inserted  iu  the  older  collections,  and  old 
pieces  still  floating  unattached  might  be  included 
in  the  new  additions.  Moreover,  new  hj'mns  were 
sometimes  made  from  old  material,  parts  of  which 
had  already  appeared  in  the  mass,  and  changes 
and  adaptations  were  freely  made.  Naturally 
these  pieces  Avere  much  copied  and  became  subject 
to  a  multitude  of  textual  errors.  So  the  mass  went 
on  groAving  and  varying  in  detail  until  it  was 
finally  fixed  by  the  Hebrew  Canon  and  by  the 
Greek  version  of  the  Septuagint. 

There  it  appears,  like  the  law,  divided  into  five 
books ;  and  as  the  whole  mass  of  the  law,  the 
work  of  centuries,  was  attributed  to  Moses,  from 
whom  its  germs  may  have  been  derived,  so  the 
whole  varied  liturgy  and  hymnology  of  the  temple 
were  ascribed  to  David,  who  was  regarded  as  the 
first  great  poetical  and  musical  genius  of  the  race. 
Probably  the  name  of  David  was  attached  to  the 
earliest  collection,  in  accordance  with  the  practice 
of  associating  anonymous  productions  with  revered 
names,  as  a  means  of  preserving  them  and  with- 
out any  purpose  of  attributing  the  authorship  to 
him.  In  fact,  among  the  ancient  Hebrews  little 
attention  was  paid  to  the  identity  of  authors,  and 
their  productions  were  not  thought  of  as  literature 
in  our  modern  sense. 

One  of  the  purposes  of  the  writer  of  the  Book 


THE  PSALMS  855 

of  Clironicles  was  to  represent  the  Levitical  sys- 
tem of  the  second  temple  as  having  belonged  to 
the  first,  which  it  certainly  did  not,  and  to 
trace  its  establishment  back  to  David  prior  to  the 
existence  even  of  the  first  temjjle.  There  were 
certain  choirs,  or  guilds  of  singers,  known  as 
Asaphites  and  Korahites,  and  according  to  the 
system  applied  to  the  priests  and  Levites,  to  give 
them  an  antique  origin  in  the  history  of  Israel, 
these  were  traced  to  putative  ancestors  of  David's 
day  and  earlier.  Certain  minor  collections  of 
psalms  were  made  by  or  for  these  temple  choirs 
from  time  to  time,  and  they  came  to  be  known  as 
psalms  of  Asaph,  or  of  the  sons  of  Korah,  regard- 
less of  actual  authorship  or  origin.  Other  tra- 
ditional names  were  sometimes  used  to  designate 
separate  pieces,  but  the  later  additions,  which 
became  more  and  more  liturgical  in  their  char- 
acter, were  mostly  left  anonymous.  Yvith  the 
coming  of  a  literary  era  and  acquaintance  with  the 
practice  of  other  nations,  the  custom  of  connecting 
ancient  names  with  writings  newly  produced  or  of 
unknown  production  was  dropped. 

In  the  five  parts  into  v/hich  the  one  hundred 
and  fifty  psalms  have  been  divided  it  is  possible 
to  trace  in  some  measure  the  growth  of  the  col- 
lection. The  first  part  contains  forty-one  psalms, 
mostly  ascribed  to  David,  and  the  bulk  of  this  was 


350  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

probably  the  oldest  collection,  made  not  long  after 
the  restoration  of  the  temple.  The  second  part 
includes  chapters  xlii.  to  Ixxii.  of  the  present  Book 
of  Psalms,  and  the  third,  chapters  Ixxiii.  to  Ixxxix. 
These  two  really  constitute  one  composite  collec- 
tion. First  there  is  a  Korahite  collection  of  eight 
psalms,  then  a  second  Davidic  collection  of  twenty, 
separated  from  the  preceding  by  the  psalm  of 
Asaph,  and  then  an  Asaphite  collection  extending 
to  chapter  Ixxxiii.  There  are  occasional  excep- 
tions to  the  ascriptions  in  these  three  sets  of 
psalms  to  Korah,  David,  and  Asaph  ;  but  a  curious 
feature  of  the  series  from  xlii.  to  Ixxxii.,  constitut- 
ing the  second  and  the  greater  portion  of  the  third 
part,  is  that  it  was  made  up  by  an  editor  who 
eliminated  the  name  Jehovah  and  substituted  Elo- 
him  throughout.  Those  which  follow,  to  the  end 
of  part  third  of  the  whole  book,  were  not  subjected 
to  that  process,  but  they  constitute  a  sort  of  mis- 
cellaneous appendix  to  the  same  collection. 

There  is  no  way  of  fixiug  the  time  when  the 
several  sets,  or  the  collection  into  which  they  were 
combined,  or  the  additions  appended  to  that  col- 
lection, were  made,  but  it  was  doubtless  late  in 
the  Persian  or  early  in  the  Greek  period.  It  was 
certainly  long  after  the  time  of  Ezra  and  Nehe- 
miali.  What  are  called  books  four  and  five  of  the 
Psalms,  xc.-cvi.  and  cvii.-cL,  respectively,  are  not 


THE  PSALMS  a57 

clearly  distinguishable  from  each  other,  and  for 
the  most  part  comprise  a  mass  of  later  additions, 
many  of  which  are  hymns  of  praise,  or  prayers, 
having  an  evident  liturgical  purpose.  No  part  of 
the  collection  can  be  regarded  as  homogeneous,  as 
pieces  old  or  new,  not  previously  included,  were 
liable  to  be  incorporated  at  any  time  or  in  any 
place,  and  any  piece  was  liable  to  undergo  change, 
until  the  final  touch  of  the  canon  fixed  the  mass 
and  made  it  sacred  from  further  manipulation. 

The  rubrics  placed  at  the  head  of  many  psalms, 
whether  so  placed  when  they  were  first  included  in 
tlie  collections  or  later,  are  no  actual  indication  of 
authorship  or  of  the  occasions  that  produced  them, 
being  based  rather  upon  surmise  or  assumption 
than  upon  tradition,  and  they  are  often  contra- 
dicted by  internal  evidence.  There  is  no  certainty 
that  any  of  the  psalms  were  written  b}^  David,  but 
it  is  not  unlikely.  The  eighteenth  is  directly  as- 
cribed to  him  in  Second  Samuel  xxii.,  but  even 
that  is  not  conclusive  evidence.  There  are  a  few 
pieces  of  the  nature  of  historical  poetry,  like  psalm 
Ixxviii,,  which  evidently  followed  the  promulgation 
of  the  law  and  recalled  the  past  experience  of  the 
people  down  to  and  including  the  destruction  of 
the  Northern  Kingdom,  and  like  cv.  and  cvi., 
which  have  a  similar  character,  but  are  turned 
into  songs  of  praise  by  the  opening  and  closing 


a58  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

lines.  There  are  few  indications  of  origin  in  the 
Northern  Kingdom,  but  xlv.  appears  to  be  a  nup- 
tial song  of  Aliab  and  Jezebel. 

Many  pieces  in  which  the  first  person  singular 
is  used  have  a  national  rather  than  a  personal 
significance.  There  is  a  note  of  depression  and 
appeal  when  Israel  is  compassed  about  by  enemies, 
and  of  triumph  and  rejoicing  when  she  is  victo- 
rious. Imprecations  upon  enemies  are  generally 
directed  against  the  enemies  of  the  people  rather 
than  of  the  individual.  Some  historical  allusions 
are  uncertain.  Psalm  Ixxix.,  for  instance,  has 
been  referred  to  an  Egyptian  profanation  as  early 
as  Necho's  invasion,  and  to  the  time  of  Antiochus 
Epiphanes,  four  centuries  and  a  half  later,  but  it 
more  probably  refers  to  the  taking  of  Jerusalem 
by  Nebuchadnezzar.  Many  plaintive  songs  were 
doubtless  ^vritten  during  the  captivity,  but  few- 
bear  such  a  stamp  of  certainty  as  cxxxvii.  Com- 
plainings in  behalf  of  the  meek  and  faithful  who 
are  oppressed  by  the  wicked  or  insulted  by  the 
scornful,  with  expressions  of  al^iding  faith,  as  in 
xxxvii,,  Ixxiii.,  and  xciv.,  may  have  arisen  in  dark 
times,  like  those  of  Manasseh's  long  reign,  when 
evil  influences  were  dominant.  "New"  songs  of 
rejoicing,  like  xcv.  and  those  which  follow  it,  may 
be  assigned  to  the  return  from  captivity,  and  some 
of  them  have  the  exulting  tone  of  the  "  second 


THE  rSALMS  359 

Isaiah,"  to  whom  they  have  sometimes  been   at- 
tributed. 

There  are  representations  of  Jehovah's  terrible 
might  which  remind  one  of  the  Song  of  Deborah 
and  the  loud  timbrel  of  the  Book  of  Jasher,  and 
others  which  recall  the  imagery  of  Job,  while 
again  there  are  appeals  to  the  loA'ingkindness 
and  tender  mercies  of  a  God  of  gentler  attributes. 
Occasionally  we  find  recognition  of  the  laws  and 
statutes,  and  references  to  sacrifices  and  burnt- 
offerings,  but  more  often  the  doctrine  that  right 
COD  duct  has  its  sure  reward  and  wa^ong-doiug  its 
certain  penalty,  ^vhicll  pervades  the  teachings  of 
the  prophets. 

It  does  not  greatly  matter  that  we  caunot  refer 
the  parts  of  this  wonderful  collection  to  their 
sources,  assign  dates  and  authors  to  the  several 
pieces,  or  associate  them  closely  wdth  incidents 
and  events.  Notwithstanding  the  lack  of  order, 
arrangement,  or  classification,  we  can  see  that  it 
reflects  the  experience,  the  moods,  the  hopes  and 
fears,  the  calamities  and  triumphs,  and  the  modes 
of  worship  of  that  ancient  people  who  attained  the 
highest  conception  of  Deity,  and  Avere  the  first  to 
put  their  trust  in  an  unseen  power  that  pervaded 
the  universe  with  the  rule  of  righteousness.  The 
marvel  is  tliat  out  of  their  experience  of  nearly  a 
thousand  years,   ended  two  thousand  3'ears  ago, 


360  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

should  come  a  mass  of  devotional  poetry  so  far 
fitted  to  the  needs  of  the  human  heart  in  all  times 
and  places,  that  the  world  cannot  outgrow  it  or 
improve  upon  it.  It  is  not  the  product  of  a  single 
genius,  like  many  another  indestructible  heritage 
from  the  past,  but  of  the  genius  of  a  race  passing 
through  an  ordeal  such  as  no  other  race  has  under- 
gone. Through  that  ordeal  results  were  wrought 
for  mankind  that  could  not  perish,  and  one  of  their 
abiding  evidences  is  the  Book  of  Psalms. 


XX 

THE   PKOVEEBS 

The  author  of  the  Book  of  Kings  says  of  Solo- 
mon, "  and  he  spake  three  thousand  proverbs,  and 
his  sonofs  were  a  thousand  and  five."  AVhat  be- 
came  of  these  productions  doth  not  appear,  but  this 
Oriental  statement,  together  Avith  Solomon's  gen- 
eral reputation  for  wisdom,  caused  his  name  to  be 
attached  to  the  accumulation  of  aphorisms  and 
wise  sayings  of  the  ancient  Hebrews  which  was 
preserved  in  their  scriptures.  No  doubt  this  col- 
lection, like  most  others  in  that  great  volume,  was 
made  in  the  years  after  the  return  fro:n  captivity, 
when  the  national  life  was  extinct ;  but  of  this 
there  is  no  external  or  internal  evidence  beyond 
the  fact  that  no  sign  can  be  found  of  the  exist- 
ence of  the  the  Proverbs  as  a  collection  until 
it  became  a  question  of  including  them  in  the 
canon. 

The  thirty-one  chapters  contain  several  collec- 
tions, varying  somewhat  in  characteristics,  united 
together  in  the  customary  manner  of  the  compilers 
of  scripture  books.     At  the  beginning  are  six  or 


362  THE  JEWISH  SVRTPTUJIES 

seven  verses  of  introduction,  probably  prefixed  by 
the  latest  editor,  and  including  the  designation 
"the  proverbs  of  Solomon  the  son  of  David, 
king  of  Israel,"  which  was  doubtless  adopted  on 
the  familiar  principle  of  associating  cherished  pro- 
ductions with  some  great  name.  What  follows,  to 
the  end  of  chapter  ix.,  does  not  consist  of  prov- 
erbs, but  of  a  series  of  connected  discourses  upon 
wisdom,  of  exhortations  to  observe  her  teachings, 
and  of  warnings  against  folly  and  imprudence. 
These  are  addressed  to  a  young  man,  designated 
as  "my  son,"  by  some  imaginary  sage,  and  the 
youth  is  especially  warned  against  the  wiles  of  the 
"  strange  woman." 

From  chapter  x.  to  xxii.  16  is  a  veritable  col- 
lection of  maxims  and  wise  sayings,  with  the 
heading  "  the  proverbs  of  Solomon."  They  con- 
sist of  a  long  series  of  distichs,  quite  disconnected 
and  susceptible  of  any  other  arrangement,  balanced 
after  the  manner  of  the  parallelism  of  Hebrew 
verse.  In  some  cases  they  are  a  strict  parallel  of 
the  same  or  similar  meaning  differently  expressed, 
but  more  frequently  antitheses.  They  are  a  hetero- 
geneous collection,  and  tlie  division  into  chapters 
is  quite  arbitrary.  From  xxii.  17  to  xxiv.  22 
there  is  another  series  of  continuous  injunctions 
upon  wisdom  and  the  conduct  of  life.  The  rest 
of  chapter  xxiv.  is  a  separate  collection  of  "  say- 


THE  PROVERBS  363 

ings  of  tlie  ^vise,"  but  not  in  the  form  of  detached 
proverbs. 

The  next  five  chapters  form  a  collection  which 
is  designated  as  ''  also "  proverbs  of  Solomon, 
"  which  the  men  of  Hezekiah  king  of  Judali 
copied  out."  These  are  a  mixture  of  genuine 
maxims  and  aphorisms,  with  bits  of  advice  and 
wise  counsel,  the  whole  having  a  decidedly  antiq.ue 
liavor.  This  is  undoubtedly  the  oldest  part  of  the 
whole  book.  Whence  the  men  of  Hezekiah  copied 
it  out  does  not  appear,  but  they  may  very  likely 
have  transcribed  it  as  a  collection  from  various 
sources.  They  did  so  about  two  centuries  and  a 
half  after  Solomon's  day,  and  while  some  of  his 
wise  sayings  may  have  been  preserved  until  that 
time,  it  would  probably  have  been  difficult  to  prove 
tlieir  authenticity  even  then.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  collection  was  a  gathering  up  of 
floating  material  in  the  distinctly  literary  period 
of  Hezekiah's  reign. 

The  collection  that  begins  with  chapter  x.  is  un- 
questionably much  later,  and  Avas  probably  com- 
pleted, at  a  v-ery  late  day,  of  material  that  had 
drifted  tooether  in  the  course  of  centuries.  Whether 

o 

the  preliminary  and  interpolated  discourses  are 
earlier  or  later  than  the  main  colle:^tion  is  uncer- 
tain and  not  important.  They  have  the  appearance 
of  being  incorporated  from  separate  productions, 


364  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

on  account  of  their  general  character,  when  the 
whole  book  was  finally  made  up.  The  last  two 
chaj^ters,  the  "  words  of  Agur  "  and  the  "  words  of 
king  Lemuel,"  were  probably  added  at  the  same 
time.  The  names  are  enigmatical,  and  there  is 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  they  represent  real 
persons. 

There  is  a  quaint  shrewdness  in  the  words  of 
Agur  and  a  picturesqueness  of  expression  that 
suggest  a  primitive  time.  The  gem  of  chapter 
xxxi.  is  the  exquisite  alphabetical  poem  on  the 
virtuous  woman,  which  is  too  much  a  work  of 
literary  art  to  be  very  early  or  very  late  in  the 
history  of  Israel.  The  original  epithet  signifies 
rather  "  sensible  "  or  *'  capable  "  than  "  virtuous  " 
in  the  usual  modern  acceptation. 

A  noticeable  characteristic  of  the  whole  Book 
of  Proverbs  is  the  absence  of  the  distinctively 
Hebrew  or  Israelite  stamp.  There  is  no  intrinsic 
quality  denoting  the  time  or  place  of  production. 
There  is  in  it  a  universality  of  tone  that  seems  in- 
consistent with  the  persistent  particularism  of  the 
Jewish  race.  There  are  none  of  the  familiar  al- 
lusions to  Israel  or  to  Sion,  to  the  patriarchs  or 
prophets,  to  the  priests  or  law-givers,  to  the  temple 
or  the  altar  fires.  There  is  simply  a  mass  of 
worldly  wisdom  and  prudent  counsel,  of  aphor- 
isms,  maxims,  proverbs,  and  sayings  of  the  wise, 


THE  PROVERBS  305 

marked  in  general  bj  a  wide  and  lofty  ethical 
spirit,  but  devoid  of  special  religions  significance. 
In  its  way  it  is  a  production  of  Semitic  genius 
as  unique  as  the  Psalms,  and  still  unrivalled  of 
its  kind. 


XXI 

THE   SONG  OF   SONGS 

The  mere  fact  that  the  editor  or  scribe  who  put 
upon  this  beautiful  composition  the  title  Song 
of  Songs  added  "  which  is  Solomon's,"  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  such  a  label  was  not  meant 
to  imply  authorship,  so  plainly  do  the  contents 
contradict  such  an  implication.  Not  only  could 
it  never  have  been  written  by  Solomon,  but  it  ex- 
hibits that  monarch  in  the  unpleasant  light  of  be- 
ing discomfited  by  a  simple  country  maiden,  whose 
charms  he  attempted  to  add  to  the  attractions  of 
his  harem,  but  who  persisted  in  her  ardent  fidelity 
to  the  rustic  lover  left  in  her  native  village,  in 
spite  of  the  allurements  of  the  seraglio  at  Jeru- 
salem. It  is  a  gem  of  pastoral  poetry  from  the 
north  country  of  Israel,  rescued  from  oblivion  by 
the  baseless  allegorical  interpretation  put  upon  it  at 
an  early  day  and  persisted  in  for  centuries.  It  is  a 
pity  that  more  such  treasures,  if  such  there  were, 
had  not  been  saved  by  similar  misconceptions. 

And  this  gem  is  a  veritable  antique,  for  it  ante- 
dates the  ivory  palaces  of  Samaria  and  the  reign 


THE  SO.VG    OF  SO1Y6S  367 

of  Omri,  and  was  writteu  when  Tirzali  could  be 
named  with  Jerusalem  as  a  beautiful  capital,  in 
the  days  that  followed  the  reign  of  Jeroboam, 
founder  of  the  Northern  Kingdom.  It  was  also 
a  time  when  Solomon's  quest  of  fair  maidens  for 
his  harem  was  fresh  in  memory,  and  in  a  memory 
with  w^hich  no  reverence  mingled.  Perhaps  in 
the  writer's  mind  there  was  a  keen  recollection  of 
that  other  fair  Shulamite,  Abishag,  whose  loveli- 
ness was  made  a  sacrifice  to  the  extinguished 
fires  of  the  royal  blood  before  Solomon  was  king, 
and  became  the  cause  of  fatal  jealousy  between 
him  and  his  aspiring  brother.  At  all  events,  this 
is  a  production  of  the  Northern  realm,  nine  cen- 
turies older  than  the  Christian  era.  It  breathes 
of  the  pastoral  atmosphere  of  Issachar  and  the 
vineyards  of  Zebulun.  It  wafts  into  the  luxurious 
court  of  Jerusalem  the  fragrance  and  bloom  of  the 
vales  of  Galilee. 

Much  tissue  of  brain  and  material  of  writing 
was  squandered  for  ages  upon  the  allegorical  in- 
terpretations of  this  little  chaplet  of  exquisite 
song ;  and  in  the  past  century  learning,  ingenuity, 
and  critical  acumen  have  been  lavishly  expended 
in  extracting  from  it  the  real  meaning  and  pur- 
pose, and  nobody  feels  quite  sure  of  the  result. 
It  is  an  abuse  of  terms  to  call  it  erotic  in  any  pas- 
sage.    It  is  amatory,  but  it  depicts  the  triumph 


368  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTUHES 

of  a  pure  and  innocent  love  and  the  baffling  of  a 
sensual  passion  in  which  appears  no  craft  or 
malice,  only  the  easy-going  oriental  indulgence. 
In  substance,  if  not  in  form,  it  is  dramatic,  weav- 
ing together  a  number  of  episodes  in  an  artless 
fashion.  It  has  been  conjectured  that  it  was  used 
for  histiionic  representation,  perhaps  at  nuptial 
celebrations,  continuously  or  in  separate  episodes. 
It  has  also  been  guessed  that  it  was  intended  as  a 
monologue  in  which  one  skilful  singer  would  suf- 
ficiently imply  by  tone  or  gesture  and  action  the 
changes  of  character  and  scene.  But  whether  a 
dramatic  performance,  with  accessories  of  scenery 
and  costume,  a  choral  representation,  with  part 
songs  and  solos,  or  a  musical  monologue,  much 
was  left  to  the  imagination  in  the  transitions  of 
scene  and  character,  and  after  the  lapse  of  three 
thousand  years  it  is  no  easy  matter,  Avithout  note 
or  explanation  or  tradition  as  a  clew,  to  feel  certain 
that  any  "revival  "  of  the  production  conforms  to 
the  real  original. 

Instead  of  discussing  any  of  the  analyses  or 
explanations  upon  which  so  much  learning  and 
ingenuity  has  been  bestowed,  we  may  as  well  ac- 
cept that  which  seems  most  reasonable,  as  well  as 
most  pleasing,  as  at  least  making  the  composition 
intelligible.  We  are  to  imagine,  then,  that  a 
fatherless  girl  of  Shulam,   with   unkind   brothers 


THE  SONG   OF  SONGS  369 

and  a  devoted  lover,  lias  been  secured  in  ber  na- 
tive village  by  Solomon  and  brought  to  his  se- 
raglio in  Jerusalem.  The  scene  opens  in  the 
harem,  and  the  first  four  verses  are  chanted  by 
odalisques  in  praise  of  the  king,  when  the  sun- 
burnt beauty  of  the  North  appears  and  speaks  the 
next  two  in  explanation  of  the  contrast  of  her 
complexion  with  that  of  the  fair  daughters  of 
Jerusalem.  Then  she  falls  into  a  musing  apos- 
trophe to  her  absent  lover  in  verse  7,  and  the 
chorus  of  odalisques  responds  in  scornful  advice 
to  return  to  the  flocks  of  her  shepherd  lover. 
Then  Solomon  speaks  in  praise  of  the  dark  maid- 
en's beauty  in  verses  9-11.  She  continues  her 
musing,  as  if  alone,  in  the  next  three  verses,  the 
king  utters  more  words  of  admiration  in  15,  which 
she  in  her  re  very  turns  upon  the  lover  of  whom  she 
is  thinking,  and  after  the  king's  reference  to  the 
richness  of  her  surroundings,  she  sings  a  snatch 
of  song  calling  herself  the  Eose  of  Sharon,  which 
serves  as  a  signal  for  the  lover's  appearance  on 
the  scene,  and  the  lines  of  chapter  ii.,  verse  2, 
are  put  in  his  mouth.  They  are  followed  by  the 
rapturous  words  of  the  maiden,  who  faints  in  his 
arms,  and  he  adjures  the  diiughters  of  Jerusalem 
not  to  awake  his  love  "  until  it  please," 

There,  at  ii,  8,  is  a  break.     The  maiden  speaks, 

as  alone  and  in  a  trance  or  re  very,  recalling  her 
24 


370  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

lover  on  tlieir  native  hills  and  the  scenes  and  in- 
cidents of  former  joy.  This  continues  to  the  end 
of  chapter  ii.,  and  is  followed  in  the  first  four 
verses  of  chapter  iii.  Avith  the  relation  of  a  dream, 
or  a  fancy,  of  hunting  for  the  lover,  from  whom 
she  had  been  separated,  to  bring  him  to  her 
mother's  house  again.  He  appears  to  be  present, 
and  again  adjures  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  not 
to  arouse  his  love  from  the  trance  in  which  such 
sweet  words  are  uttered. 

At  chapter  iii.  6  a  new  episode  begins,  carry- 
ing the  mind  back  to  the  time  when  Solomon 
brought  his  new  acquisition  to  the  city.  The  de- 
scription of  his  coming  and  of  his  palanquin,  and 
the  call  to  the  daughters  of  Sion  to  behold  him,  are 
supposed  to  proceed  from  a  male  chorus  in  a 
street  of  Jerusalem  ;  but  the  beginning  of  chapter 
iv.  takes  us  into  the  harem  again,  and  in  the  first 
six  verses  the  king  appears  sounding  the  praises 
of  the  maiden's  beauty.  Upon  the  resumption 
of  this  unavailing  panegyric,  on  the  same  or  an- 
other occasion,  the  voice  of  the  rustic  lover  breaks 
in  with  a  call  to  his  bride  to  look  upon  him  from 
her  gorgeous  height ;  and  being  ravished  with  a 
look,  he  utters  his  own  ardent  praises  of  her,  until 
she  throws  herself  into  his  arms  with  the  words 
of  the  last  half  of  verse  16,  to  which  he  responds 
joyfully  in  verse  1  of  chapter  v. 


THE  SONG   OF  SONGS  871 

At  verse  2  begins  another  episode.  The  maid 
of  Shulam  is  again  separated  from  her  lover,  and 
in  musing  mood  relates  a  distracted  dream  or  fancy 
of  his  seeking  her  in  her  apartment  at  night  and 
disappearing  when  the  door  was  opened,  and  of 
her  going  forth  to  find  him.  To  her  appeal  to  the 
daughters  of  Jerusalem  in  verse  8  the  chorus  re- 
sponds with  verse  9,  and  she  replies  with  the 
praises  that  complete  the  chapter.  After  the 
question  of  the  chorus,  vi.  1,  the  lovers  are  sup- 
posed to  come  together  again,  and  the  maid  ex- 
presses satisfaction  in  2  and  3. 

At  chapter  vi.  4  another  episode  opens,  and 
Solomon  once  more  tries  his  blandishments  upon 
the  unyielding  beauty,  whose  resistance  makes  her 
"  terrible  as  an  army  with  banners."  At  verse  8 
the  voice  of  the  lover  is  supposed  to  break  in  again 
upon  the  king's  seductive  praises,  and  then  the 
chorus,  verse  10,  asks  scornfully  who  this  superior 
beauty  is,  that  she  should  be  so  proud.  The  maid 
turns  her  back  and  musingly  recalls  the  incident 
of  her  being  captured  in  her  country  home,  and 
the  chorus  calls  upon  her  to  turn  back  that  they 
may  look  upon  her.  This  is  the  first  two  lines  of 
verse  13,  of  which  tlie  last  two  are  supposed  to  be 
uttered  in  scornful  jealous}-  b}^  a  dancing  girl,  who 
proceeds  to  execute  a  dance,  perhaps  that  of 
Mahanaim.     This,   done   in   the  oriental  manner. 


373  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

and  in  tlie  diaphanous  costume  proper  to  the 
character,  excites  the  admiration  of  the  king  and 
calls  forth  the  eulogium  of  vii.  1-9,  which  is  ap- 
plied to  the  dancing  girl,  and  not  to  the  modest 
maid  of  Shulam. 

The  latter  turns  from  the  scene  more  than  ever 
enamoured  of  her  own  lover,  and  appeals  to  him 
to  take  her  back  through  the  fields  and  villages  to 
their  rural  home,  where  they  Mill  enjoy  the  de- 
lights of  their  mutual  passion.  This  ardent  out- 
burst ends  with  a  faint  in  the  lover's  arms,  and 
once  more  he  adjures  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem 
not  to  awaken  his  love.  After  viii.  4  there  is  a 
transition  of  the  scene  to  the  native  haunts  of  the 
youthful  pair,  and  their  return  is  greeted  with  a 
chorus  of  villagers  in  the  first  two  lines  of  verse  5, 
the  rest  of  that  verse  forming  an  ejaculation  of  the 
lover  over  the  maiden  awakening  under  an  apple 
tree  in  her  mother's  garden,  where  he  has  laid 
her  to  repose.  She  responds  with  her  wonted  ar- 
dor in  verse  G,  and  the  following  verse  seems  to 
be  the  reflection  of  a  sage  bj^stander  upon  tlio 
strength  of  true  love,  which  cannot  be  bought. 

The  rest  of  the  chapter,  verses  8-14,  appears  to 
form  an  epilogue,  the  significance  of  which  has  not 
been  made  entirely  clear.  Some  would  throw 
it  back  into  a  retrospect,  before  the  abduction  of 
the  maiden,  and  others  make  it  a  sequel  to  her  ex- 


THE  soya    OF  SONGS  378 

perience.  The  only  difficulty  with  the  latter  in- 
terpretation is  a  seeming  inconsistency  between 
the  description  of  verse  8  and  that  of  verse  10, 
and  the  assumption  that  the  girl's  brothers  are 
ignorant  of  her  eventful  absence  from  home. 
However,  it  is  in  harmony  with  the  plan  set  forth 
above,  and  as  satisfactory  as  any  that  has  been 
suggested.  Yerse  8  is  supposed  to  be  spoken  by 
one  of  the  brothers  of  the  maid,  and  to  be  replied 
to  by  the  other  brother  in  verse  9,  the  question 
and  ansAver  implying  a  treatment  according  to  the 
character  of  the  girl  for  virtue.  In  the  next  three 
verses  she  proudly  protests  for  herself  that  she  has 
already  proved  to  be  a  w\all,  with  impregnable 
tow^ers,  and  that  Solomon,  with  all  his  purchased 
and  guarded  vineyards,  could  not  invade  her  do- 
main. Then  comes  the  call  of  the  lover  for  the 
wedding,  for  which  the  companions  are  waiting, 
and  the  happy  reply  of  the  willing  bride. 

All  this  may  seem  like  mere  ingenious  conject- 
ure, but  it  is  the  result  of  the  closest  study,  with 
all  the  light  that  research  into  customs  and  lan- 
guage can  throw  upon  it,  and  it  has  the  merit  of  a 
real  solution  of  the  most  charming  of  puzzles.  It 
had  to  create  a  point  of  view,  in  a  time  and  place 
most  remote  from  that  of  the  modern  literary 
critic,  and  about  which  little  definite  knowledge  is 
attainable.     It  had  to  deal  with  obscurities  in  a 


374  THE  JEWTSIf  SORTPTURES 

language  deficient  in  grammatical  distinctions,  es- 
pecially in  the  tenses  of  verbs,  and  with  peculiari- 
ties of  dialect  of  which  few  examples  have  been 
preserved.  Moreover,  the  original  texts  had  suf- 
fered the  usual  mutilations  from  copying  and  from 
misconceptions  of  meaning,  while  the  allegorical 
interpretations  so  long  insisted  upon  have  im- 
posed upon  the  translators  of  most  modern  ver- 
sions. But  in  spite  of  all  drawbacks  we  get  a 
vivid  and  exquisite  picture  of  life  and  character  in 
Israel  and  Judah,  in  the  far-off  time,  before  trouble 
accumulated  upon  the  two  kingdoms,  and  a  picture 
in  delightful  contrast  with  the  dark  shades  in  the 
old  annals  of  the  kings. 


XXII 
JONAH 

Doubtless  the  Book  of  Jonah  had  a  serious 
purpose,  but,  were  it  not  for  the  tremendous  seri- 
ousness with  which  it  has  been  taken  these  many 
centuries,  because  the  ancient  authorities  of  the 
Jewish  faith  included  it  among  their  sacred  writ- 
ings, one  would  be  almost  inclined  to  treat  it  as  a 
burlesque  upon  the  prophet  of  Israel.  In  a  cer- 
tain serious  sense  it  is  so.  It  was  written,  prob- 
ably in  Babylon,  late  in  the  period  of  captivity, 
when  a  kind  of  scepticism  prevailed  on  account  of 
the  non-fulfilment  of  predictions,  and  the  prophet 
was  in  danger  of  being  held  in  light  esteem  and 
of  cherishing  a  grudge  against  Jehovah  for  the 
failure  of  his  menaces.  Jonah,  son  of  Amittai,  was 
one  of  the  old  prophets,  and  a  type  of  those  whose 
mission  it  was  to  utter  direful  threats,  and  Nine- 
veh was  the  greatest  of  ancient  cities  and  a  type 
of  obstinate  pride  and  power. 

For  the  purpose  of  striking  illustration  this 
stern  old  prophet  is  represented  as  being  sent  to 
prophesy  destruction  to  that  mighty  metropolis ; 


376  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

and  the  futility  of  his  trying  to  oscape  so  daring  a 
task,  when  commanded  by  the  Lord,  is  sh.own  in 
his  experience  at  sea.  The  device  of  swalloAving 
by  a  dragon  or  sea-monster,  as  a  means  of  saving 
the  life  of  one  destined  to  accomplish  a  certain 
mission,  was  familiar  in  Babylonian  fable.  Jonah, 
being  finally  brought  to  face  his  task  in  spite  of 
himself,  boldly  proclaims  in  the  streets  of  Nin- 
eveh that  it  will  be  overthrown  in  forty  days. 
Still  for  the  purpose  of  illustration,  and  in  spite  of 
an  improbability  bordering  upon  the  grotesque, 
the  proud  capital  is  portrayed  as  suddenly  repent- 
ing and  going  into  a  general  mourning  for  its  sins, 
at  the  clamor  of  an  incomprehensible  foreign  va- 
grant in  the  streets,  and  its  fate  is  thereujDon 
averted,  to  the  discomfiture  of  the  reluctant  proph- 
et. Thus  is  enforced,  in  an  extreme  case,  the 
doctrine  that  repentance  may  follow  the  divine 
menace  of  punishment,  and  the  punishment  may 
thereby  be  averted ;  and  that  the  prophet  who 
has  been  the  instrument  of  the  conversion  has  no 
right  to  complain. 

The  latter  lesson  was  impressed  upon  Jonah  in 
an  unpleasant  experience,  and  his  complaint  at 
the  destruction  of  the  ephemend  gourd  Avas  made 
the  occasion  of  a  rebuke  for  his  disgruntlement  at 
the  salvation  of  the  great  city  of  Nineveh.  The 
extreme  way  in  which  the  incidents  of  the  tale  are 


JOXA  H  377 

put  gives  it  an  appearance  of  broad  caricature  ; 
but  in  spite  of  the  solemn  exegesis  of  many  cen- 
turies its  meaning  and  purpose  are  plain  enough. 
The  only  absolutely  inscrutable  thing  about  it  is 
the  intellectual  effort  and  moral  earnestness  that 
have  been  expended  upon  the  theory  that  it  is,  or 
was  ever  intended  to  be,  a  solemn  narration  of 
facts,  any  more  than  the  story  of  Giant  Grim,  or 
the  encounter  of  Greatheart  with  Apollyon.  The 
real  Jonah  has  just  cause  of  complaint  against  the 
liberty  taken  by  the  author  with  his  name  and 
reputation.  It  needs  only  to  be  added  that  the 
prayer  "out  of  the  fish's  belly,"  which  is  inter- 
posed between  the  account  of  Jonah's  first  expe- 
rience and  the  sequel,  is  quite  irrelevant  to  either, 
though  apparently  employed  to  "  turn  "  the  place 
of  his  confinement,  and  is  wholly  made  up  of 
scraps  and  shreds  from  the  psalms,  strung  to- 
gether without  coherency. 


XXIII 

THE  BOOK  OF  DANIEL 

As  we  departed  from  tlie  biblical  arrangement 
and  adopted  the  chronological  order  in  dealing 
with  the  prophetic  books,  on  account  of  their 
relation  to  historical  events,  so  we  can  get  a 
clearer  understanding  by  placing  at  the  end  of  our 
series  the  two  books  which  were  the  latest  to  ap- 
pear, and  one  at  least  of  which  has  an  important 
bearing  upon  events  at  a  critical  time.  The  voice 
of  prophecy  had  been  silent  for  three  centuries 
and  a  half,  and  for  the  greater  portion  of  that 
period  no  scribe  had  ventured  to  add  to  the  sacred 
writings  of  Judaism,  save  perhaps  in  the  process 
of  copying,  when  the  terrible  pressure  of  the  per- 
secution of  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  the  abominable 
profanation  of  the  holy  city  with  a  pagan  image 
in  the  very  temple  of  the  Lord,  and  the  desperate 
revolt  headed  by  Judas  Maccabaeus,  forced  into 
.existence  the  remarkable  production  known  as 
the  Book  of  Daniel.  Discarding  prepossessions 
and  prejudices,  and  seeking  merely  to  see  things 
as  they  are,  we  shall  have  no  great  difficulty  in 
understanding  this  book. 


THE  BOOK  OF  DANIEL  879 

Following  a  practice  by  no  means  novel,  the 
author  shrouded  his  own  identity  in  mystery,  and 
made  use  for  his  purposes  of  one  of  the  most 
venerated  names  of  his  race.  The  real  Daniel  is 
referred  to  by  Ezekiel  as  one  of  the  sages,  already 
ancient,  revered  in  his  day,  and  he  probably  lived 
and  wrote  his  lost  productions  in  the  time  of 
Manasseh.  At  all  events  tradition  held  him  among 
the  wisest  of  men  and  the  most  faithful  in  time  of 
trial  and  adversity  in  his  devotion  to  the  God  of 
Israel.  He  was  in  the  popular  mind  the  ideal 
character  for  the  purposes  of  the  anonymous 
writer,  who  strove  in  the  days  of  sorest  distress 
to  revive  and  strengthen  the  ancient  faith,  re- 
kindle hope,  and  nerve  the  people  to  the  struggle 
for  recovering  possession  of  Sion,  now  sunk  in  the 
abomination  that  maketh  desolate. 

This  writer  began  by  placing  himself  back  in 
the  time  of  Judah's  first  great  humiliation,  the 
Babylonian  captivity,  and  using  the  subsequent 
events  in  a  kind  of  prophetic  forecast  to  lead  up 
to  his  climax.  In  so  doing  he  showed  a  remark- 
able ignorance  of  actual  history,  but  the  means 
of  information  among  the  Jews  of  his  time  was 
scanty,  and  all  that  v/as  familiar  was  a  few  con- 
spicuous names  and  leading  events.  Besides,  his 
purpose  was  not  historical,  and  he  was  as  careless 
of  facts  as  he  was  ignorant  of  details. 


3S0  THE  JEWISH  SCTi  IP  TUPLES 

The  first  half  of  the  book  consists  of  a  series  of 
narratives,  for  the  main  features  of  which  material 
may  or  may  not  have  existed  outside  of  the 
writer's  imagination,  in  the  shape  of  popiihir  tales 
or  tradition.  There  is  in  them  an  appearance  of 
differences  of  source.  There  is  a  difference  of 
language  in  the  earliest  known  texts,  but  those 
were  produced  by  copying,  after  the  Aramaic  Tar- 
gums  came  into  existence,  and  signify  little,  as  there 
is  an  obvious  unity  of  purpose  running  through 
the  whole  book.  By  way  of  illustrating  the  divine 
care  for  the  faithful  among  the  chosen  people,  and 
the  exhibition  of  divine  power  to  the  dismay  of 
the  mightiest  potentates,  we  are  told  the  series  of 
stories  of  the  faithful  Daniel  and  his  devoted  com- 
panions in  the  days  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 

The  first  indication  of  the  author's  definite  pur- 
pose appears  in  the  great  image  of  that  monarch's 
dream,  interpreted  by  Daniel.  Here  we  have  the 
gradual  degeneration  of  imperial  power  from  the 
Babylonian,  through  the  Persian,  the  Grecian  of 
Alexander,  to  the  Seleucidie,  and  to  Antiochus  as 
their  basest  and  most  degraded  representative. 
This  degenerate  sovereignty  is  to  be  crushed  with 
the  little  stone  of  the  Jewish  revolt,  which  will 
grow  into  the  great  mountain  of  the  Lord's  do- 
minion in  the  earth.  Here  is  still  an  echo  of  the 
bold  promise  of  ancient  prophecy. 


THE  BOOK  OF  DANIEL  381 

The  divine  care  for  the  faithful,  and  the  dis- 
comfiture of  their  oppressors,  is  especiall}^  enforced 
in  the  story  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  golden  image, 
and  the  penalty  of  burning  alive  for  violation  of 
the  imperial  decree  to  fall  down  and  worship  it. 
The  next  illustrative  episode  is  put  in  the  form  of 
a  record  by  Nebuchadnezzar  himself,  giving  an 
account  of  his  own  humiliation  to  the  form  and 
condition  of  a  beast  of  the  field,  and  his  sub- 
sequent recognition  of  the  "King  of  Heaven." 
The  reader  of  this  volume  will  not  need  to  be 
told  that  this  was  pure  invention,  and  to  discuss 
its  "  historical  basis  "  is  to  talk  nonsense. 

If  there  was  a  name  in  the  royal  famil}^  of 
Babylon  corresponding  to  Belshazzar,  its  pos- 
sessor certain^  was  not  the  son  or  the  successor 
of  Nebuchadnezzar,  nor  did  he  die  suddenly,  that 
the  kingdom  might  be  "received"  by  Darius  the 
Mede.  But  that  does  not  detract  from  the  inter- 
est or  significance  of  the  story  of  his  feast,  which 
contains  a  pointed  reference  to  the  desecration  of 
the  precious  vessels  of  the  temple  by  Antiochus, 
and  vindicates  once  more  tlie  wisdom  and  triumph 
of  the  faithful  Israelite  and  the  righteous  ven- 
geance of  his  God.  Once  more  that  moral  is  en- 
forced in  the  story  of  Daniel  and  the  lions,  and 
the  conversion  of  Darius  to  a  belief  in  the  living 
God,  albeit  the  writer  was  ignorant  of  the  fact  that 


382  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

Darius  was  no  more  a  Mede  than  Cyrus,  and  Cyrus 
no  more  a  Persian  than  Da-rius,  and  mixed  up  tlie 
order  of  liis  potentates. 

Beginning  with  chapter  vii.  the  book  grows  im- 
pressive with  the  visions  of  Daniel  and  the  in- 
tensity of  the  writer's  purpose,  for  here  we  have 
the  first  great  example  of  that  apocalyptic  writing 
which  largely  wrought  the  transition  from  Judaism 
to  Christianity^  Daniel,  who  has  before  always 
been  spoken  of  in  the  third  person,  is  now  repre- 
sented as  having  written  his  dream  and  told  "  the 
sum  of  the  matters."  In  the  first  vision,  in  the 
reign  of  the  mythical  "  Belshazzar  king  of  Baby- 
lon," we  have  again  the  succession  of  empires 
— Assyrian  (or  Babylonian),  Persian,  Grecian,  and 
the  Seleucidpe — in  a  series  of  beasts.  Among  the 
principalities  into  which  the  Greek  power  was 
divided  appears  the  ''  little  horn,"  which  figures 
Antiochus  Epiphanes,  the  presumptuous  and  de- 
spised oppressor  of  the  Jews,  and  for  him  the 
judgment  was  prepared  which  was  to  result  in 
the  dominion  of  the  faithful,  personified  as  the 
**  Son  of  Man,"  deriving  authority  from  the  "  An- 
cient of  Days."  This  much-discussed  symbolism 
is  made  obscure  only  by  the  discussion. 

Again,  in  a  vision  in  which  the  Persian  palace  at 
Susa  is  given  to  Belshazzar  king  of  Babylon,  the 
Medo-Persian   empire    appears    in  the    ram,   and 


THE  BOOK  OF  DANIEL  883 

Alexander  in  the  lie-goat,  and  we  have  a  new 
development  of  the  '' little  horn,"  which  had  pre- 
sumed to  trample  upon  the  stars  and  to  extinguish 
the  altar-fires  of  the  temple.  But  it  is  speedily  to 
be  broken  and  the  sanctuary  cleansed.  The  his- 
torical dislocation  which  makes  Darius  the  son  of 
Xerxes,  instead  of  his  father,  is  of  little  conse- 
quence, and  the  enigmatical  calculation  of  the  time 
of  deliverance  is  remarkable  chiefly  for  the  various 
extraordinary  uses  to  which  it  has  been  put  by  those 
who  did  not  understand  it.  No  doubt  it  was  made 
purposely  vague  and  obscure,  as  dealing  with  what 
was  still  in  the  future,  but  the  writer  intended  to 
convey  the  impression  of  a  speedy  triumph,  and 
to  sustain  it  by  mystical  figures  out  of  past 
prophecy,  which  had  no  real  relevancy. 

Most  pregnant  vision  of  all  is  that  of  the  last 
three  chapters,  with  its  "  man  clothed  in  linen," 
above  the  great  river,  revealing  in  words  like  the 
voice  of  a  multitude  the  coming  deliverance  of  the 
people.  Beginning  with  the  Persian  kings,  of 
whom  the  author  knew  but  four,  he  sketches,  as 
if  in  a  vision  of  the  future  and  in  vague  and 
wavering  outlines,  ^\ithout  distinct  detail,  the 
course  of  history  to  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  the 
"contemptible  person,"  who  is  pictured  in  his 
desperate  conflicts  with  his  enemies,  in  his  prof- 
anation of  the  sanctuary  and  his  favors  to  those 


384  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

wlio  forsake  the  covenant,  his  persecution  of  the 
righteous  and  setting  up  of  the  abomination  tliat 
maketh  desolate,  and  his  honoring  of  the  strange 
God  of  the  Komans.  But  his  fate  di*aweth  nigh  ; 
"  he  shall  come  to  his  end  and  none  shall  help  him." 
"  The  people  that  know  their  God  shall  be  strong 
and  do  exploits,"  and  their  great  prince  shall  stand 
up  at  that  time  of  trouble,  "  such  as  never  v/as." 

Here  is  foreshadowed  the  yet  unachieved  vic- 
tory of  Judas  MaccaboBUS  and  his  resolute  follow- 
ers. But  what  of  those  victims  of  persecution  who 
have  died  martyrs  to  their  unyielding  faith,  in  de- 
spite of  the  doctrine  that  the  righteous  have  their 
reward?  That  persistent  refusal  of  the  ancient 
Hebrew,  in  his  most  exalted  mood,  to  look  bej^ond 
this  life  must  give  way  at  this  terrible  crisis,  in 
order  to  find  the  encouragement  of  hope  when  it 
was  most  needed.  That  the  departed  faithful 
might  share  the  triumph  and  the  recreant  might 
sufier  the  penalty  of  traitors,  "  many  of  those  that 
sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake,  some 
of  them  to  everlasting  life  and  some  to  shame  and 
everlasting  contempt." 

In  a  brief  but  impressive  epilogue  after  this 
climax  there  is  a  venturesome  prediction,  in  am- 
biguous terms,  of  the  time  of  "the  end  of  these 
wonders,"  and  within  the  set  time  of  1290  days 
Judas  and  his   devout  v/arriors  had  rescued  the 


THE  BOOK  OF  DANIEL  885 

temple,  driven  ilie  Syrian  minions  out  of  Jerusa- 
lem, restored  the  worship  of  Israel's  God,  and 
prepared  the  way  for  the  autonomy  of  "  the  glo- 
rious land"  But  the  dream  of  power  for  a  restored 
nation  was  not  fulfilled  in  the  end  ;  neither  did 
the  martyrs  rise  to  share  in  the  victory  of  the 
living,  but  the  seeds  of  the  doctrine  of  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body  were  planted,  the  germs  of  a 
transformed  Messianism  were  started,  and  the 
soil  was  prepared  as  never  before  for  the  teach- 
ings that  were  to  come,  after  yet  another  heathen 
power  had  spread  itself  over  the  land  of  so  many 
disappointed  hopes,  and  of  the  unextinguishabia 
potency  of  new  hopes. 


25 


XXIV 

ECCLESIASTES 

Along  iu  the  latter  Iiaif  of  the  first  century  of 
the  Christian  era  the  rabbis  of  the  Jewish  faith 
were  applying  their  scnptural  canon  to  a  phil- 
osophical prodnction  among  the  writings  in  their 
possession,  the  worldly  and  sceptical  tone  of 
which  caused  much  doubt  and  hesitation  in  their 
minds.  But  its  recognition  of  righteousness  as 
the  highest  wisdom,  and  its  acknowledgment  of 
the  ways  of  God  as  beyond  question,  as  well  as 
past  finding  out,  finally  prevailed,  and  it  was 
added  to  their  collection  of  sacred  books.  In  the 
next  century  (130  a.d.)  it  was  included  in  the 
Greek  translation  of  Aquila,  and  w^as  thereafter 
accepted  by  Christians  and  Jews  alike.  No  ref- 
erence or  indirect  allusion  to  this  work  before  the 
Christian  era  has  been  discovered,  and  its  age  has 
always  been  a  matter  of  speculation.  Its  original 
language  and  general  character  afford  the  only 
evidence,  and  these  indicate  a  late  origin.  It  was 
almost  certainly  written  after  the  troublous  time 
of  the  Maccabees,  and  probably  late  in  the  As- 


ECCLESIASTES  887 

monean  period,  perhaps  not  long  before  the  Ro- 
man conquest  of  Asia  Minor. 

It  was  in  the  form  of  a  discourse  in  the  mouth 
of  a  personage  designated  by  the  four  Hebrew  con- 
sonants corresponding  to  K-H-L-TH.  Vowels 
were  supplied  to  make  of  this  "  Koheleth."  There 
was  no  such  Avord  in  use,  but  as  the  first  three 
consonants  corresponded  with  those  of  a  verb 
meaning  to  assemble,  or  to  gather  a  company  of 
listeners,  it  v/as  assumed,  though  feminine  in  form, 
to  signif}^  one  who  addresses  such  a  company. 
Hence  the  title  Eoclesiastes,  given  to  it  in  the 
Greek  version  and  adopted  in  the  English,  with  the 
alternative  equivalent,  ''  or.  The  Preacher." 

The  burden  of  the  discourse  is  the  vanity  and 
emptiness  of  all  things  human,  and  as  it  begins 
with  those  things  most  highly  esteemed  by  man, 
knowledge  and  wisdom,  power  and  riches,  luxury 
and  unlimit€>d  means  of  enjoyment,  it  represents 
Koheleth  at  the  outset  as  being  the  son  of  David, 
king  in  Jerusalem.  The  writer  did  not  choose  to 
assume  for  himself  an  experience  to  justify  the  con- 
clusion of  "  vanity  and  striving  after  wind  "  as  the 
result  of  the  highest  advantages  of  earth,  and  there 
was  no  better  example  of  that  sort  of  experience 
than  Solomon ;  and  taking  such  liberties  with 
gi'eat  names  was  the  commonest  thing  in  Hebrew 
literature,  as   we   have   already   seen.     After  this 


388  THE  JEWISH  SCRirTURES 

part  of  the  discourse  the  writer  seems  to  lose 
sight  of  his  assumed  character,  and  to  speak  in 
his  own  person,  as  a  man  of  wide  observation, 
keen  insight,  and  a  philosophic  temper. 

Such  a  writer  must  have  been  the  product  of  his 
time,  and  it  was  evidently  a  time  when  the  long 
struggle  of  his  race  was  over.  The  hope  of  a 
great  nationality  was  gone,  the  strivings  of  the 
petty  principality  had  subsided.  The  fever  that 
produced  the  first  apocalyptic  writings  and  fostered 
the  hopes  of  the  mysterious  "  anointed  one,"  Avho 
had  been  so  long  receding  in  the  vague  visions 
of  the  seers,  had  apparently  burned  out.  The 
awakening  faith  in  a  hereafter  had  relapsed  into 
slumber.  Koheleth  cherished  no  hopes  and  saw 
no  prospects.  The  thing  that  had  been  was  the 
thing  that  was  and  that  would  be,  and  trying  to 
reform  it  was  striving  after  wind.  There  is  no 
memory  of  Israel's  past  in  his  mind ;  he  has  lost 
thought  of  the  law  and  the  prophets,  and  if  he  has 
ever  heard  of  that  new  doctrine  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  sanctified  and  a  coming  kingdom,  he 
holds  it  as  a  vanity  too  light  even  to  recognize, 

Koheleth  is  a  fatalist,  a  pessimist,  and  yet  he  is 
cheerful  and  resigned,  and  his  advice  is  to  make 
the  best  of  things  as  they  are,  avoiding  all  extremes, 
cherishing  prudence,  and  scorning  folly.  There  is 
no  assurance  of  good  fortune  in  rigliteousness,  and 


ECCLESTASTES  389 

yet  righteousness  is  to  be  preferred.  There  is  no 
sure  penalty  for  wickedness,  yet  Avickedness  is 
folly.  Though  there  is  one  event  to  the  righteous 
and  the  wicked,  and  the  dead  know  not  anything, 
neither  have  they  any  more  a  reward,  yet  is  there 
no  question  that  the  righteous  and  the  wise,  with 
their  works,  are  "in  the  hand  of  God,"  and  that 
is  the  safest  place.  The  problem  of  Job  troubled 
not  the  mind  of  Koheleth.  Sadly  and  cheerfully 
by  turns,  he  simply  gave  it  up,  and  saw  nothing 
better  for  man  under  the  sun  than  to  eat,  drink, 
and  enjoy  the  labor  of  his  hands,  ceasing  all  effort 
at  the  solution  of  insoluble  problems  and  all  striv- 
ing after  wind. 

In  his  discourse  he  sprinkles  wise  sayings  and 
prudent  counsels,  in  a  manner  to  suggest  quota- 
tion from  a  common  stock,  and  sometimes  a  broken 
and  obscure  style  indicates  the  same  thing.  There 
are  inconsistencies  that  may  come  from  quoted 
expressions,  or  may  be  the  result  of  variable 
moods.  The  wiiter  used  an  inflexible  language 
little  adapted  to  philosophic  meditations,  and  in 
the  hands  of  those  who  did  not  understand  him 
his  Avriting  became  corrupted  by  transcription  and 
translation.  But  in  spite  of  obscurities  its  gen- 
eral meaning,  and  its  tone  and  spirit,  are  clear  as 
daylight,  and  all  the  murkiness  with  which  they 
have  been  overspread  has  emanated  from  the  spirit 


390  THE  JEWISH  SCRIPTURES 

of  superstition,  which  evermore  invades  any  re- 
pository of  thought  or  sentiment  that  has  been 
declared  sacred. 

In  all  his  musings  upon  life,  his  recognition  of 
the  evil  and  incurable  state  of  things  under  the 
sun,  and  of  the  wisdom  of  a  calm  and  rational  en- 
joyment of  the  good  things  of  the  only  Avorld 
vouchsafed  to  man,  the  thoughts  of  Koheleth 
revert  ever  and  anon  to  the  one  event  that  comes 
to  all.  While  he  bids  the  young  man  to  rejoice 
in  his  youth,  he  admonishes  him  that  that  also  is 
the  time  to  remember  his  Creator,  and  sets  before 
him  a  sad  picture  of  old  age,  unsurpassed  in  poetic 
expression  in  the  whole  range  of  literature.  And 
yet  upon  that  last  scene  of  all  he  can  only  pro- 
nounce again  the  cheerless  refrain,  "  vanity  of  vani- 
ties, all  is  vanity." 

With  that  ends  the  discourse  of  Koheleth,  and  the 
long  and  varied  range  of  the  scriptures  of  that  an- 
cient race  whose  genius  gave  the  world  the  foun- 
dation of  its  enduring  religions.  There  are  added 
words,  perhaps  by  the  author,  reverting  to  the  char- 
acter with  which  he  set  out,  but  the  last  four  verses 
of  the  book  were  undoubtedly  appended  by  others, 
when  it  was  added  to  the  canonical  collection. 
Perhaps  the  rubric  beginning  "  this  is  the  end  of  the 
matter;  all  has  been  heard,"  was  intended  to  close 
and  seal  forever  the  volume  of  the  Jewish  scriptures. 


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The  Jewish  Scriptures;  the  books  of  the 

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